The Whipping Boy
by hana-to-mame
Summary: AU.  Prince James is a spoilt child who only thinks of himself.  When one of his slaves fights back, he begins to understand why people care about each other.  Eventual slash.  Kames.
1. Prince James

**The Whipping Boy (A Big Time Rush fanfic)**

**Rated: T**

**Pairing: Kames**

**Summary: AU. Prince James is a spoilt child who only thinks of himself. When one of his slaves fights back, he begins to understand why people care about each other. Eventual slash. Kames.**

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**Chapter 1 - Prince James (Posted 10 February 2011)**

"Fetch me the heir." the King bellowed to his servant.

"Right away, sir." the tall servant replied. She ran from the throne room to the royal child's room. "Prince James, your father has requested you."

"So what? You're just a servant, Challen. I don't have to do what you say." James said from his bed. He was just a small child of about seven.

"You come with me right now." the servant woman said, walking over to him and grabbing him by the arm. She pulled him behind her.

"UGH! Don't _touch_ me!" James screamed, trying his best to pull himself away. But the woman was too strong for him.

"I may be a servant, but I won't take any lip from a child, royal or not." the servant said strongly. Though she was angry that the brat thought her beneath him, she was gentle with her grasp and kind as she placed him in front of the King.

He finally pulled his arm free of her hold and pouted, glaring at her and the King.

"You wanted to see me, father?" James said, annoyed.

"Yes. Your mother and I haven't seen you in weeks. She wanted to check up on you."

James shifted his glance to the left slightly, looking at his mother. She was a meek woman. But rarely showed affection for her son. Sometimes James would see sadness in her eyes, but he didn't know why it was there. But sometimes he'd see something else, like happiness, but different. He wanted to know exactly what it was, though he'd never admit he was too afraid to ask.

"Son," the Queen said, smiling sweetly at him, "have you made any friends with the other children yet?"

The queen was referring to the slave children. Though their parents were slaves, all children were regarded as free people, and were encouraged to keep the prince company. Many, however, were too afraid of him. He never shared his toys. He threw tantrums if he didn't get his way. And he would have the children whipped if they touched him.

"No." James answered rebelliously.

"James," the King said, disappointed, "the Queen and I are disgraced by your behavior. It seems we've done an awful job of parenting you. Only recently have we caught wind of the orders you have given to the servants. Having them whip the children. Shameful."

"But, father," James said, becoming angry.

"Do not talk back to me." the King yelled sternly. "A spoiled prince will become a spoiled king, and a spoiled king will spoil his entire kingdom. I will not have the heir to my throne ruin the land that I have nurtured."

"That's too bad. I'm your only child and my aunts and uncles have no children."

"This is not quite true." the Queen interjected. "Your father and I could have another child. So unless you learn to be more respectful of other people, you will no longer be the heir."

"You must be joking!" the prince laughed.

"This is not a joke." the King said seriously. "Until you learn to care about someone other than yourself, you'll have none of your privileges. No servants. And you'll have one of the children staying with you at all times."

"What?" James couldn't believe it. The slave children were filthy and didn't deserve to even be _near_ him.

"You must learn to be appreciative of all the things our servants do for us. They're important to the royal family and I will not have my son treating them like they're worthless." The Queen had found good friends in her servants. Their social statuses may have been miles apart, but that meant little to her. "Mrs. Knight," she said to the servant woman, "please take James to your quarters and introduce him to your children."

"Yes, ma'am." the servant woman said kindly. "Please, young prince, follow me."

"I will _not_!" James stomped his foot.

"You will," the King said, "or I'll have her drag you there."

Horrified at the degrading thought, James grudgingly followed the servant to the wing of the palace where the servants were housed.


	2. The Knight Family

**Chapter 2 - The Knight Family (Posted 12 February 2011)**

**A/N: This is just to say that I have another BTR fic going at the same time as this called "No Alternative" and it's Kogan. Also AU. Just wanted to put that out there in case you're interested :D**

James followed cautiously as he was lead to the servant quarters. He'd never been there. And it was completely not what he expected.

There were no dirty children playing with dead animals. No crazy old folk hollering in gibberish. No dead bodies rotting in the halls.

It was actually quite nice. No foul smells. The children were clean. The old were in their rooms.

Challen, the servant woman, took James to a room near the middle of the hall. They walked in to be greeted by three boys who looked to be around the same age as the prince. One of them was holding an infant. He was blond, with bushy eyebrows and giant dimples. He smiled as he cooed at the baby in his arms, who was laughing.

The other two boys were also cooing at the baby. One had light brown hair and fair skin. The other had black hair and darker skin.

The three boys looked up when they heard the door open and saw the servant and the prince.

All their happy faces fell. "What is the royal brat doing here?" the one holding the baby asked.

"Kendall, we don't talk like that. About anyone." the servant scolded him.

"Yes mother." he said with a pout.

"Mom, what _is_ the prince doing here?" the dark-skinned boy asked with disgust in his eyes.

"Yeah, who does he think he is, coming into our house like this?" the fair-skinned one added.

"Carlos, Logan, be quiet." Challen warned again, a little louder. "James is here because his parents believe he needs to be taught a lesson. One of you will be going with him."

"What? Why us?" Carlos whined.

"Because," the mother said, "everyone knows I have the best behaved children of all the servants. So polite and respectful. I'm so proud of all of you. It will be an honor for one of you to help the prince."

"So, which one of us goes?" Carlos asked, sending a prayer to the heavens to not let it be him.

"It can't be me," Kendall protested, "I have to help you take care of Katie."

"I was instructed to let James choose which one he wants."

"What?" all four boys, including the prince, exclaimed,

"I'm afraid so." Challen said with a sigh. "Since you must spend so much time with him, they at least wanted to make sure he has some choice in the matter.

The three brothers glared at James. He was appalled. That anyone could look upon him with such scorn and not be punished. It was madness!

"I'll not have any of these mongrels follow me around like a forgotten pet." the prince stuck his nose as high as he could.

"Good. None of us would ever want to waste a minute of our lives trying to help _you_." Kendall spat.

"James," the mother said in a gentle voice, "you heard your father. You must either choose one of my children to accompany you for the next few months, or give up all your rights to the throne."

"Fine." James seethed. "I choose... him, the one holding the baby."

"Great." Kendall said sarcastically.

Behind him, Carlos and Logan cheered, earning frustrated looks from Kendall, Challen, and James.

"Sorry." both boys said, and then went into another room.

"Mom, you can_not_ make me do this!" Kendall protested as his baby sister was lifted out of his arms. "I can't leave!"

"Kendall, I'm going to miss you like crazy, but we'll be fine until you come back. And you can still visit us once in a while. I have your brothers to help with Katie. We'll manage."

"But I don't want to go with him! He's rotten and mean and heartless!"

"That is why you are to go with him." his mother explained. "You are supposed to teach him to have a heart."

"I'm not a teacher. I'm just a kid." Kendall pouted.

"And _I'm_ becoming extremely impatient." Prince James said loudly. "Come along, slave child, I'll show my parents I'm capable of running this kingdom, heart or not."

X

Kendall was currently sitting on the floor of the biggest room he'd ever seen. A few feet away was a large bed, atop which sat the Prince.

"So," Kendall said looking up, "are you going to talk to me or am I just supposed to sit here forever?"

"I'm too busy and too _important_ to speak to you." Prince James answered.

"That was talking."

"No it..." James glared down at him.

"I'm hungry." Kendall observed out loud as he felt his stomach growl.

"So eat something." the Prince said lowly.

"What can I eat?"

James looked at him. What a ridiculous question! "What can you eat? You can eat whatever you want. The castle has everything and the cooks will prepare whatever you ask for."

"Not me, I'm the child of a servant. The cooks aren't supposed to make food for me."

Annoyed, James sighed and said, "Well, what do you usually eat?"

"Bread."

"Obviously. But what do you have _with_ the bread?" James asked, wondering how vapid this boy must be.

"With?" Kendall asked as he tipped his head to the side.

James blinked in confusion. "Surely you don't just eat bread for a meal."

"We drink water with it. Sometimes we get leftovers from your kitchens, but I usually let Logan and Carlos have them. And of course any milk goes to Katie."

"Really?" James asked. Who only eats bread? And _why_ would you give food to someone _else_? "You just give your food to your brothers?" He didn't believe Kendall. He must have been lying. Playing some kind of dirty trick on him.

"Of course. They're not as strong as I am. They need to eat more." Kendall said this as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.

"What about yourself? You need to eat too. Everyone needs to eat."

"Yes, but I'm not the only person that matters. I don't need as much as they do, so I let them eat as much as they want before I eat anything. They're important to me, so I do whatever I can to make sure they stay healthy."

"Why?" James asked as he didn't understand that concept.

"Because I love them."

"Yeah right." James crossed his arms. "You don't love _people_! You love your food and your clothing. You love _possessions_.

Kendall stod. "So that's why you're so spoiled! You think you can live life loving material items. Well, you're wrong. Love is about caring about other people and other people caring about you. You may love your golden statues and your imported rugs, but they don't love you back. And that's why you want everything, because _you_ don't know how to care about anyone but yourself."

"Get out!" the Prince screamed as he jumped off his bed. "I will not allow myself to be bombarded with the worthless insults of a common servant child!"

"Fine! I don't want to play lackey to a conceited brat like you anyway!" Kendall screamed right back and ran out of the Prince's room.

Kendall looked around, trying to remember the way back to his quarters. He turned to go left, then looked right and thought that way looked more familiar. After taking a few steps, he glanced left again and thought maybe that way was right. He was lost.

Kendall tried desperately to remember which way he had come, but couldn't. He traveled down the hall and up the hall several times, seeing more turns and veering hallways. He always just headed right back to where he started, but soon enough he forgot where that even was.

And he was tired and hungry. He didn't have the energy to go wandering about. So he sat on the cold, hard floor, hoping someone would pass by and find him there.

**A/N: Ok, so it might be a week or two until I update any of my stories. I'm not abandoning them or anything, but I just found out that I probably won't be able to afford to go to college, so I'm kind of at a loss for inspiration right now. I'll find my muse eventually, but I'm gonna take some time off to figure a few things out.**


	3. Father Puts His Foot Down

**Chapter 3 - Father Puts His Foot Down (Posted 21 February 2011)**

**A/N: I'm back! And to address the age issue, I know they're young right now, but it did say in the summary that there would be **_**eventual **_**slash, as in this story will take place over a few years and the slash will happen when they're older. Hope that helped clear everything up :D**

"Kendall." a sweet voice said as he was shaken from slumber. He hadn't even been aware of falling asleep. "Kendall, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, hello, Jo." Kendall greeted the girl. She was a few years older than him, also the child of servants, but last year had become old enough to become a servant herself.

"Why are you sleeping here? Shouldn't you be helping your mother bathe Katie?"

"I should be." Kendall said as he rubbed his eyes. "But I don't know how to get home."

"How did you get here?"

"I don't know which way I came."

"But why did you even come here?"

"I'm supposed to help teach the stupid Prince how to be a better heir. But he kicked me out and now I'm lost." Kendall almost started to cry.

"Come on, I'll take you back to your family." She reached a hand out to him and helped him up.

"Thanks."

X

"Kendall's back!" Carlos shouted as he opened the door to see Kendall standing aside Jo.

"What?" his mother's voice could be heard in the background. She came to them and saw him standing there. "Why did you return so soon?"

"James kicked me out."

"He what? You're supposed to stay with him until he learns how to be a good King someday."

"He yelled at me to get out! What was I supposed to do? I didn't want to stay with him."

"We must see the King and Queen at once." his mother said. "Logan, Carlos, please watch Katie while I'm gone.

"Alright." Logan said with a smile.

"We don't mind." Carlos said happily.

They loved taking care of their baby sister.

"I'd offer to stay with them," Jo said, "but I must get back to work."

"That's fine, dear. Thank you for bringing my son back."

Jo smiled and walked away, heading off to do whatever it was she did in the castle.

Challen grabbed Kendall's reluctant hand and lead him to the throne room.

X

"He did what?" the Queen asked in horror as she was told about Kendall's fight with James. "Please accept our apology, Mrs. Knight. We will speak with out son. He is not to treat little Kendall badly or he will be punished."

"Your Majesties," Kendall said in a somewhat frightened voice, "I don't want to be rude, but do I have to stay with the Prince? He and I don't really get along and I'm not sure I'm the right one for the job..."

"You're perfect." the King beamed. "Such a thoughtful and respectful young lad. And the more he has to struggle with you, the more he will learn from you."

"I suppose that's a yes, then." Kendall said, defeated. "But, you do know I'm the head of my household, right? They need me..."

"Young lad," the Queen beamed down at him, "we can assure you that your family will be well taken care of in your absence. We never realized how poorly our servants have been treated while my husband and I were away, but we'll have no more of that. The royal family sincerely appreciates everything the servants do for us, and we will show that appreciation by taking care of all the families. All we ask is that you help our son. Please, we don't know what else to do."

"You're going to take care of all the families if I do this?" Kendall asked, awestruck.

"We're going to do it either way, as it is the right thing to do." said the King. "But we will give you anything you want in return for helping us. You're our only hope."

"Ok. Thank you."

"No, thank you." the King smiled.

X

Kendall was escorted back to the prince's room by a servant he'd never met. She must have been sent from another castle.

"Prince James." the woman called. "Your guest is here."

"Guest?" James's bratty voice was heard from deep within the room. The door was opened and his head popped out, sneering. "What guest?"

"Young Kendall Knight, sir."

"You again? I thought I sent you away."

"You did. But your parents insisted I try to help you. And they promised to take care of all the families in the servant quarters, so at least this way I feel like I'm returning the favor."

"You speak as though being around me is a chore." James said.

"It's more than a chore, but I promised I'd do this. Now let me in."

"Never!"

"Prince," the servant spoke softly, "if you don't mind my suggesting, perhaps you should consult your parents on the matter once more. Maybe they will change their minds."

"It won't do any good." Kendall offered.

"We'll see about that." James spat. "Servant, bring Kendall. We are going to speak with my parents."

X

"Oh, dear, not again." the King smacked his face into his hands. "James, we are not discussing this again! You are to spend as much time with Kendall as possible until you learn to be respectful of others."

"Fine then!" James stomped. "But what am I supposed to do with him?"

"Treat him like your brother."

"Brother?" James asked. "I have no brothers or sisters. I wouldn't know what to do with one of those either."

"I can teach you." Kendall said, trying his best to remain calm. "I have two brothers. I can show you how to be a brother."

"Oh, joy."

"James." his father said scoldingly.

"Fine."

"And we don't want you just casting him aside and expecting him to follow you around, James." the queen added. "You have to b mindful of him. Give him anything he needs. Take care of him as if he can't take care of himself."

"What?"

"You heard me. From now on, Kendall is to do nothing on his own. _You_ are to serve _him_ unless he offers to help you with something."

"Oh, what a wonderful idea." the King whispered to his wife.

"Mother, I can't..."

"I won't hear it." the queen bellowed.

"Kendall," he said, turning sharply to face the other boy. "Do you need anything?"

"I am actually _really_ hungry..." Kendall admitted.

"Father, will you please have the cooks prepare anything Kendall wants? And tell all the servants to do as he says."

"No. You won't learn you lesson by having someone else take care of him, so I will inform the servants that they are not to help you with anything."

"Anything?"

"Exactly. You will have to cook for him. And you will feed him. You will tuck him in at night and dress him in the morning. You will do everything for him."

"But... but... but I'm the prince!"

"Not until you learn how to be a proper prince." the queen shook her head.

"You... you are the worst parents ever! I hate you!" James started to cry and ran back to his room.

Kendall watched him go. He never liked seeing anyone cry. Especially not other children. Even if they were spoiled, rotten, conceited, snobby brats. So he ran after him.

He ran into James's room and saw him still crying as he sat on his bed. He climbed up and came closer to James, wondering how he could stop his crying. And then he thought of what he'd do for his mom or his brothers or sister or even any of his friends. He hugged him.

James continued to sob for a few seconds, and sniffed. He looked up and saw who's arms were around him and snarled in anger. He pushed Kendall so hard the poor boy fell onto the floor with a great thud.

"Ow! What was that for?" Kendall asked as he rubbed his elbows which had broken his fall.

"Don't touch me!"

"I was only trying to help..." Kendall said. What was this kid's problem? Everyone needed a hug once in a while. Surely royal princes were not exempt from this natural law?

"Well don't!"

"But you were crying..." Kendall climbed back on the bed. "If you're crying, sometimes a hug helps. You've hugged people before, haven't you?"

"No..." James whispered, crawling away.

"What? Not even your parents or... anyone?"

"No, of course not. I'm a prince, we don't do that sort of thing."

"Well," Kendall hypothesized, "maybe that's all you need. For someone to show some affection toward _you_ so you can learn how to show it to _them_."

"I don't want yo hug you!"

"What, are you afraid? Prince James is scared to hug someone." Kendall teased him.

"I'm not scared! I'm the bravest man in all the land!"

"Then prove it! Hug me!" Kendall made a mock-angry face and threw his arms open, waiting for James to fall victim to his huge ego and just hug him already.

"No,"

"Fine. Then I'm going to go through all the villages telling everyone how wimpy their precious prince is!"

"You wouldn't!"

"I would." Kendall said surely.

"You... devil child!"

"Hug me, or else."

James snarled, a hiss emanating from the back of this throat. But he pushed himself forward and wrapped his arms around Kendall, and Kendall closed his arms around James.

"See, this isn't so bad." Kendall said.

And just like that, James started crying again. Kendall rolled his eyes but patted the prince's head. "See? It feels better, doesn't it? To know someone is here for you if you need to cry? Much better then hugging a pillow or a blanket that can't hug you back."

James didn't answer, just kept on crying as his hold on Kendall tightened. Kendall thought to himself,_ this is going to be a long night_.


	4. James Cares

**Chapter 4 - James Cares (Posted 5 March 2011)**

**A/N: Sorry I've been neglecting this story. It's a little difficult to balance five stories at once especially when two are in the same fandom lol. But hopefully this chapter is worth the wait :D**

"I've never seen anyone cry so many tears." Kendall said as he continued to watch the Prince sob in his arms.

"I've never cried in front of anyone before." James admitted in a small voice.

"What?"

"Since I've been old enough to understand that royalty never lets others see their pain, I have never cried in the presence of anyone other than myself."

"That's so sad." Kendall said, almost ready to cry himself. "You're just a kid. Kids cry. That's what hugs are for. Whenever I cry, my mom or one of my brothers is there to comfort me. And I'm there for them. That's what families do."

"Not my family. As far as I know, my parents have never hugged me."

"That's horrible."

"It is not. That's how it is. I can't imagine one of them actually stooping down to hug _me_. And I wouldn't go out of my way to hug them. It's nothing personal, it's just not how a prince should conduct himself."

"Well I think that's stupid. A prince should always be willing to show compassion. People like it when you recognize their feelings. Maybe that's what your parents want you to learn."

"Surely it can't be that simple."

"Well, maybe that's the first step. You need to be more open about your emotions."

James finally leaned out of Kendall's embrace. "How do I do that?"

"I don't know. How about we start by you telling me how you feel right now." Kendall sat back, waiting for James to reply.

"I'm... not sure how I feel. I always just act like I don't care about anything, so that's sort of how I feel all the time."

"Ok." Kendall considered that. James had been taught to ignore his emotions most of the time. So Kendall had to teach him how to express them. How was a child supposed to do that? "I've got an idea! How about we just... do whatever it is you normally do for a few days. A few times through the day, I'll ask you how you feel and we'll talk about it. Start out small."

"I don't know..."

"James... The only way you can be prince is by becoming a better person. You want to become a good king someday, don't you?"

"Yeah. I want to be King so bad!"

"Well, you have to be a good prince before you can be King. So will you try this? If it doesn't work, we'll talk to your parents or try something else. But if it works, we'll build on that."

"But if this doesn't work, then I'll never be the king." James got the sad look in his eyes again.

"James, you have to trust me. I may not know a lot, but I do know how to be a nice person."

"I guess I have no choice, do I?"

"Hey," Kendall said, hugging him lightly. "please don't be sad. I'm going to help you. I always thought you were just a brat, but I can see that there's more to you than just that."

"You really think you can help me?"

"No. But I want to try."

X

"James..."

"Hmm?"

"I'm really, _really_ hungry..."

"Oh yeah, I forgot." James said, standing up. "I guess we should go to the kitchens and see if we can get some food. I'm kind of hungry too, and Father told the servants not to do anything for me..."

"I'll help you! I love to cook." Kendall said happily.

"But... you're not supposed to help me..."

"You're dad said you couldn't ask me for help, I have to offer. Well, I'm offering to help you until you get the hang of things, ok?"

"Ok. Thanks." James said with big eyes.

Kendall smiled and fell into step next to James.

"Wow!" Kendall exclaimed when they entered the kitchen. It was one of the largest rooms he'd ever seen.

"What?"

"This kitchen is _huge_!"

"It is? It's actually quite small compared to the ones in the castles I'v visited."

"This is like a hundred of my kitchens." Kendall observed.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Some bread and water will be just fine." Kendall said happily as he looked around.

"No way! You can't just eat bread and water!" James protested loudly. "You're supposed to be my brother now. And no brother of mine will eat just bread and water."

Kendall opened his mouth to insist he could do without an extravagant meal when he realized what James said. He smiled wide and pounced on James, hugging him tightly.

"_What_ are you doing!"

"It's called a hug, remember?" Kendall said, releasing him. "You want me to eat more than just bread. You cared. Even if it was for just a second, you still cared. That's a step in the right direction. So I rewarded you with a hug."

"Reward?"

"Yeah. I thought about punishing you for doing something bad, but I think rewarding you when you do something good will be better. That way it will encourage you to do it again. I'm just the son of a servant, so I don't have anything to give you, but you seemed to like the hug I gave you earlier..."

"So, caring about what you eat is good then?" James asked, making a mental note.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because... well, hmm." Kendall thought. He didn't really know _why_ people are supposed to care. He just knew that they were. "Because it shows you care about the person."

"But I don't care about you." James said with a snort.

"Oh..." Kendall hung his head a little. "Well, that's not the point. The point is, for a moment you cared about something other than your own well-being. That's what your parents want. They don't want you to care about me specifically, they just want to know you're capable of caring for others."

"But, I only care about what you eat because you eating poor man's food would look bad on me."

Kendall pursed his lips. "Well, it's close. Come on, just get me something to eat. I want this day to be over." He'd thought there was more to James than what anyone saw. But now he wasn't so sure. Was he really going to be stuck with him? For how long?

"Tell me what you want to eat so I can find it for you."

"I don't know. What do you like to eat?"

"Me?"

"Yeah." Kendall looked right into his eyes. "I don't eat much besides bread. I wouldn't know what to ask for."

"I thought you said you love to cook?"

"Well, I love to help my mom bake bread and cook food for my brothers. But I don't know what any of it is. I'd have to see it to know if I like it and what to do with it."

"Well I don't know! I only know what food looks like what it's prepared."

"Well then we're stuck." Kendall said, frustrated. How was he supposed to teach the Prince how to be a good person when he gave up on things so easily. "Do you know where the cooks keep the supplies they use to bake bread?"

"Not this again..."

"James, that's all I know how to do. _You_ don't know anything about cooking and I'm too hungry to experiment right now. And I _like_ bread, ok? Just please tell me where the grains are."

James huffed angrily and crossed his arms, mumbling something.

"What?" Kendall asked.

"I said I don't know! I don't know where the grains are! I'm sorry, alright?"

"Sorry?" Kendall said, all the anger draining out of him as he looked at James's pouty face.

"Are you deaf or something?"

"James, sorry is good."

"It doesn't feel good."

"Of course it doesn't. It's not supposed to. But it's a sign that you care about... other people's feelings."

"I already told you, I don't care about you! I don't care about anyone."

"I don't believe you." Kendall said proudly, putting his hands on his hips. "I think you are starting to care about me but you don't want to admit it."

"You're wrong." James continued to pout and look away.

"Am I? James..." Kendall had a sudden thought. "How many people do you think care about you?"

"None."

Kendall shook his head. He'd hoped he was wrong. "You know that's not true, don't you? You're the Prince! Everyone cares about you."

"No they don't. I know what they say about me. Everyone hates me because I'm spoiled and useless and mean."

"Nobody hates you..." Kendall stepped closer. _So,_ he thought_, the young Prince does have emotions_.

"Yes they do. I've heard it with my own ears. I may be young and spoiled and whatever else they call me, but I'm not stupid. Nobody cares about spoiled little Prince James who doesn't even know his way around his own kitchen."

"James, I know people _say_ that, but they don't mean it. But, even if they do, I promise that once we show them that you're not spoiled they'll all love you."

"Yeah right."

"James, I know why you think that no one cares about you. But you're wrong. Even if nobody out there does, I do. _I_ care about you and I'm not going to give up on you."

"You're lying."

"I am not. You have my word. I care about you." Kendall stepped just a little closer to hug him again. "See? It feels good to have someone care about you, doesn't it?"

"...Yes." James admitted in a muffled voice. "But why? Why would you care about me?"

Kendall knew that the only way to get James to change was to change the things in his life. Even if James didn't care about him, he still had to care about James. That way he could feel what everyone else likes to feel. "Because you're my friend, James."

"Your friend?" James sniffed, confused. He'd never _ever_ had a friend before.

"Yep. From now on, we're best friends. I know you don't care about me, but I'm all you've got, so you'll just have to make the best of it."

"Fine." James said harshly. But he surprised himself when he felt a little guilty. Truth be told, James wanted a friend more than anything else in the world. And even if Kendall wasn't his ideal friend, he was the only person stepping up to the task. Surely he couldn't be all that bad.

**A/N: Eh. That wasn't really worth the wait, was it? Sorry this was a little bit of a slow chapter. I'm going to fast forward a few weeks I think in the next chapter. I think if I focus on the first steps any more it'll get really boring. But let me know what you think!**


	5. Learning A Lesson

**Chapter 5 - Learning A Lesson (Posted 10 March 2011)**

"So," Kendall said looking around with a finger on his chin, "how are we going to find some grain?"

"How should I know? This is probably only the third time I've been in here."

"Ok. We'll just have to look everywhere then." Kendall sighed.

"Oh, what a brilliant idea." James said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I never claimed to be smart, ok?" Kendall said, a little offended. "Do you have a better plan?"

"...No."

"Didn't think so. You go check in the cupboards over there, and I'll check over here."

"You want me to... _touch_ this stuff?"

"Duh. James, the servants won't help you now. You have to learn to do things for yourself."

"I don't see why." James grumbled. "Once I learn whatever it is I'm supposed to learn from you, I'll have the servants back. And I'll have even more when I'm King, so there's no point in learning to get along without them."

Kendall thought about that. "You know, you have a point."

"Well, I... wait. I do?"

"Yes. One day, our roles will be switched. I'll have to serve you along with all the other servants. So... what is the point of all this?"

"I never thought of that..." James said pensively. "Will you... will you still be my friend when that happens?"

"I don't know. I thought you didn't care about me."

"I don't!"

"Then no. This friendship only lasts as long as we're together like this. You won't want to be my friend after it ends."

"How do you know that?" James said, feeling a little twinge of guilt as he heard Kendall's words.

"Because. You'll be His Highness Prince James again, and I'll be Kendall Knight, son of a servant. You don't want anything to do with me _now_, so why would you want my friendship then?"

"Oh... I guess you're right."

"See? I may not be a genius, but I'm not as stupid as everyone thinks."

James laughed. "Who thinks you're stupid? You don't seem that stupid."

"Well, apparently I am. All the other servants treat me like I need extra help with everything. The only ones who don't are my brothers, but I know they think the same thing."

Kendall's stomach growled loudly, reminding James what they were there for.

"Ok, I'll go look in these cupboards..." James walked over in the direction Kendall had pointed earlier and looked at the labels on all the doors. He turned and looked across the room to see Kendall opening each door and peering inside. _Ok_, he thought, _maybe he is stupid. Doesn't he see the labels?_ "Kendall, they're over here." James said when he found it.

"What?" Kendall ran over. "How can you know that? You haven't even looked inside them?"

"I didn't have to. Look at the label." James put a finger under it. "Grains." he read aloud.

"Oh... so that's what those are. What does this one say?" Kendall pointed to the label on the door to the left.

"Salt."

"And this one." he pointed to the one on the right.

"Grains, as well."

"Wow." Kendall said, amazed. "You can read!"

"Of course I can read." James said cautiously. "You mean you... can't?"

Kendall laughed. "Of course not. No one ever taught me."

"But... how do they expect you to become a servant if you don't know how to read?"

"I told you, everyone thinks I'm stupid. They think it's a waste of time to try to teach me to read. Maybe they don't expect me to become a servant, they probably think I'll be thrown out of the castle because I can't do anything. I actually wouldn't be surprised if that happened..."

"That's... everyone should know how to read."

"Everyone?"

"That's what I said." James rolled his eyes again. Then he felt arms around him. Kendall was hugging him. Again. "I guess that's good?"

"Very good. At least on that level, you can see everyone as equals."

"Ok. I'll remember that. But don't you think you're going overboard on the hugging?"

Kendall released him immediately. "Oh. Right. Sorry. You could have said something earlier if you didn't like it. I'm sure I can think of another reward for you..."

"No, that's not what I meant..." James instantly regretted saying that. He actually liked being hugged. It felt so nice. It wasn't often he felt another person's touch, so if Kendall's hugs were his only chance at feeling that again, he honestly didn't want it to stop.

"No, I should've realized earlier. You don't want a dirty kid like me touching you all the time. I may be able to teach you compassion, but I'm not a miracle worker."

"But I want..."

"How about I just tell you when you did something good? I mean, you'll still know it was good, but you won't have to put up with me hugging you."

What was James supposed to say? He didn't want Kendall to stop hugging him. But he didn't want to admit it. He couldn't tell him he liked it. "That's a good idea."

Kendall smiled, but it looked different from his other smiles. James didn't know what was different about it, but it bothered him. Had he hurt Kendall's feelings? _I don't care if his feelings are hurt. He's here to help me, not get a confidence boost._

"Ok, so now we have to make it..." Kendall said. Then something caught his eye. "Kelly!"

"Hey there, Kendall!" Kelly rushed over. "What are you doing in the kitchen?"

"Kelly, I'm hungry." Kendall put on a pouty face. He suddenly felt woozy. "I was going to make some bread, but I don't think I have the strength. Can you get me some? Please?"

"You know I can't, sweetie. I'm not supposed to help either of you."

"But I'm so hungry... I don't... I don't feel so good..." He grabbed onto Kelly's dress tightly.

He wobbled back and forth for a minute before falling to the ground.

"Kendall!" James yelled.

"Oh my gosh!" Kelly bent down and turned him onto his back. "Kendall, are you ok?"

"He's not waking up..." James said. _Why am I worried about him? He's just some stupid kid I have to put up with._ "What's wrong with him?"

"I think he passed out. When was the last time he ate?"

"I don't know..."

"Go get some water from the tap over there. There are cups on the shelf beside it."

"But... I... ok." James walked quickly to do what Kelly told him. He'd wanted to protest and give some speech about taking orders, but he found that as he watched Kendall lay passed out in Kelly's arms, he just couldn't. He brought the water back and handed it to Kelly, who flicked some droplets onto his face.

"Huh?" Kendall finally opened his eyes. "What happened?"

"You passed out." James said. He'd never seen that happen before. He'd heard about it, but actually seeing it was different. It was scary.

"Sorry."

"Oh, you silly little boy." Kelly said, sitting him up. "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault. Now, tell me when the last time you ate was."

"Yesterday morning." Kendall sighed.

"Why haven't you eaten since then?" James asked. He should have mentioned that!

"Well, I ate breakfast. But then at lunch there wasn't enough for everyone, so I let my brothers split my portion. And then at supper I didn't feel good, so I didn't eat because I didn't want to upset my stomach." Kendall explained.

"Ok, well, I think in this case, bringing you some food is the right thing to do. James, can you stay with him while I get you boys something to eat?"

"I suppose."

Kelly walked away, leaving James staring down at Kendall who was still sitting on the floor.

"Why are you staring at me?" Kendall wondered.

"You should have told me you hadn't eaten since yesterday!"

"Would you have cared?"

"Well, I... no, I guess not... I care now, though..."

"You do?" Kendall was confused. Hadn't he just gotten done saying he _didn't_ care? He needed to make up his mind.

"Yes. You're supposed to be my friend. Even if it's only temporary..."

"Thanks."

James was going to reply but Kelly came back holding two bowls. She handed one to each boy.

"Now, when you're done, put them on the counter over there and I'll come back later to take care of them." Kelly said quietly. "And don't tell anyone I helped you, ok? I don't want to get in trouble."

"We won't tell, we promise!" Kendall said happily. "Thank you so much, Kelly! I owe you one!"

Kelly smiled and walked away quickly.

"What... is this?" James asked, frightened by the brown mush in the bowl.

"It's hash." Kendall said, smelling it. "It's chopped up beef with vegetables and spices in it."

"And... I'm supposed to... _eat_ this?"

"Yeah, it's good!" Kendall said as he ate the sloppy food with his hands.

"We don't have any utensils!"

"We have fingers, duh."

"Please, tell me you're joking."

"Not one bit." Kendall said seriously. "And if you're not going to eat that, I will. But I suggest you eat it, because it's the last food you're going to have until morning."

"It smells edible..."

"Just eat it, James. It's not going to kill you to eat simple servant food." Kendall said as he finished his.

"Oh, fine." James grimaced as he stuck his hand into the warm, meaty goo. He pulled out a clump and placed it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, as if eating the food was painful.

"So, how is it?" Kendall asked cheekily.

"It... isn't that bad..."

"Told you."

"But don't expect me to eat this every day!"

"Every day? I'm lucky if I get it twice a month."

"Whatever. I'm tired. I guess I have to find a place for you to sleep."

"Oh yeah, I never even thought of that..." Kendall thought out loud.

"Well, come on, we're never going to get anywhere by just standing here." James huffed and walked out of the kitchens.

Kendall sighed and ran to catch up with him. He couldn't believe this was only the end of his first day with James. It felt like ten years had gone by since that morning. He didn't even want to think about how long he'd have to stay with James.


	6. Backstory

**Chapter 6 - Backstory (Posted 19 March 2011)**

"I'm not sleeping on the floor!" Kendall yelled loudly.

"Well then you won't sleep at all." James held his nose in the air. "I don't have a spare bed."

"What? I'm not asking for a bed. I just don't want to sleep right on the floor. Don't you have any hay mats or anything?"

"What in the world is a hay mat?"

Kendall arched his eyebrows and stared at James. "Have you ever been outside this castle?"

"A few times..."

"Hay mats are what we regular people sleep on. It's a few layers of hay or straw bound together with twine. Your mattress is made of pure silk and is filled with down feathers," Kendall pointed to James's bed, "but I'm not asking for such a luxury. I just don't want to sleep on the cold, hard floor. I'm not an animal."

"But... I wouldn't even know where to find a... hay mat." James crinkled his nose at the thought. "Who would want to sleep on hay anyway?"

"People who can't afford beds."

"You can't even afford a bed?"

"No." Kendall said, amused. "Not that we would have room for them in our quarters. My brothers and I share a room and a mat. And our sister sleeps in our mom's room."

"You don't even get to sleep on your own mat?"

"No. I don't mind though. I don't like sleeping alone that much anyway..."

"I have an idea!" James said, his face lighting up as if a lightbulb just clicked on above his head. "What if I give you one of my blankets? You can sleep on that."

"You'd let a common servant child sleep on one of your blankets?" Kendall said incredulously.

"Why not?"

"You're serious? You know it'll get dirty from touching the floor _and_ me."

"Yeah. I know. You can keep it." James wrinkled his nose again.

Kendall rolled his eyes. "Well, offering me your blanket was good. We still need to work on the dirt tolerance."

James glanced at Kendall. He'd just done something good. And even though Kendall was telling him so, it just didn't feel the same without a hug. But he couldn't tell Kendall that. "Tell me about your family." James said as he climbed into his bed. He pulled on one of his blankets and slid it down to Kendall, who laid it out and sat on it, looking up at James.

"Why?"

"I don't know. We're supposed to be friends now, aren't we? Well, friends should know things about each other."

"True." Kendall said. "But it's weird talking to you all the way up there."

"Oh. I suppose you could sit up here with me while we talk. You were up here before anyway, being here again won't hurt it."

"Wow." Kendall said under his breath. Maybe James was enjoying his company more than he was admitting.

"So, what is it like to have such a big family?"

Kendall smiled. "It's great. I love my family. My mom is amazing. And I love my brothers so much. And Katie too, she's my baby sister. She's so adorable, even when she spits up."

"How old are your brothers?"

"I don't really know. I know they're just a few months older than me. They were born just a few days apart and I came about two or three months later. We're not sure exactly when though because dates aren't really important to the servants..."

"That isn't possible. You can't just be a few months apart..."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you my brothers are adopted. My mom was really good friends with both their parents. Carlos's mother died in childbirth, and my mom says his father died of a broken heart. Logan's parents died in the last plague that swept over his village. It was a miracle he survived. My mother took them both in even though she was already pregnant with me."

"Wow. Why would she do that?"

"Because she loves them. She was like an aunt to them because she was so close to their parents, so taking them in was just natural for her." Kendall said proudly.

"What about Katie?"

"She's my half sister. Her dad is my stepdad, he's one of your father's royal guards. His name is Fabio. I don't like him very much because he doesn't come around very often, but my mom loves him and he is my sister's father so I don't say anything."

"And your dad?"

"I don't know. Well, I do know, the gossip in the servant quarters isn't as top secret as they think it is. But no one has ever told me. The most popular story is he was a soldier who died in battle after he got engaged to my mom. I've asked her about it, but she says I'm too young to know, but I think she knows I've heard things."

"What other things have you heard?" James felt a pain in his chest. He may not get to see his father that often, and he fought with him a lot, but he could never imagine not knowing him.

"I've heard that my mother was a prostitute and I'm the baby of one of the men she slept with. I've heard that she was raped and I was the result. And I've heard that she was promised to my father but he ran off once he found out she was being commissioned to become a servant to the Royal Family. I like the soldier story the best. But I don't think that's the right one."

"How do you know?"

"I don't. I just don't think it can be that simple, you know? I think if that was what really happened, they wouldn't be so afraid of me finding out." Kendall explained.

"So which one do you think is the truth?"

"I don't know, but I know it's something that would make me feel like it's my fault. I heard one of the other servants talking about it. She said she felt sorry for me and for my mom. I didn't know what she meant at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I could see some of it as my own fault."

"I highly doubt anything is your fault. You didn't choose to be born to her."

"That's true."

"You have issues with yourself, don't you?" James asked. He'd never met someone who put himself down as often as Kendall had.

"Nah, not really." Kendall insisted. "I just know what's true and what isn't. I know what I can change and what I can't and I just roll with it. I don't pity myself for not being maybe as smart as the other kids or as talented, but I'm stronger than most of the other kids my age and faster, too."

"But didn't you say the only reason you don't know very much is because no one will teach you?"

"Yeah. I think that if someone gave me the chance I could learn just as easily as anyone else. But they don't want to make things too hard for me. I heard them say that a few times too."

"What if I tutor you?"

"What?" Kendall laughed.

"What if I teach you how to read?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Because, whether you're a servant or not, you must know how to read."

"I don't know..."

"Consider it a thank-you for teaching me to be a better prince so I can become King someday."


	7. Friends Are Not Possessions

**Chapter 7 - Friends Are Not Possessions (Posted 31 March 2011)**

"3 years! The answer is _3 years_!" A woman yelled at James.

"Well how was I supposed to know that!" James screamed back at her.

"We've only been going over this history lesson for a _week_! Excuse me for trying to teach the unteachable!" the tutor smacked her face.

"Well excuse _me_ for being bored after sitting in lessons all day long!"

"Technically," Kendall said from where he was sitting across the room, "it's your own fault for not studying the material you went over recently."

"How _dare_ you say that to me!" James's face reddened as he stood and marched over to Kendall. "After I've given up my precious time and food and blankets, you thank me by accusing me of being lazy?"

"Well, you do forget about your lessons pretty often..." *_Smack*_!

The back of James's hand tore across Kendall's cheek at lightening speed, leaving a bright red mark across his face.

"Don't you ever talk back to me again!" James just stared down at Kendall, who was awestruck. "I've been nothing but kind to you! I've let you play in my private gardens and I've even helped you learn how to read. I've been wasting my entire life lately just taking care of your sorry little self! Well this is _my_ castle and you're _my_ servant! One more outburst like that, and I'll have you drafted into the Combat Force."

"The Combat Force! But I'm just a kid! They'd probably kill me before the enemy does!" Kendall yelled back, temporarily forgetting about the hand mark on his face.

"Precisely." James stuck his nose in the air.

"I don't know what made you think you have any right to threaten people, but just remember that this is exactly the type of behavior you're supposed to be avoiding!"

"Oh yeah? And just what are you going to do about it?"

"I think some physical reinforcement is in order here." Kendall huffed.

"Oh, you mean a _hug_? Yeah, that'll teach me. I'm so scared!" James pretended to cower in fear.

"James, you asked for this." Kendall said lowly as he smacked James just as hard.

"You...!" James's face became red with anger. He was boiling. "You... you smacked me!"

"Yes I did." Kendall said proudly. It really had felt good. "What is your response?"

"I... it... it hurts..." James brought his hand to his face and touched the bruise that was still stinging.

"Has anyone ever smacked you before?"

"Certainly not! I'm the Prince!"

"Well now you know what it feels like. You can't go around slapping people just because they say something you don't like."

"Yes I can!" James stomped his feet as hot tears burned down his cheeks.

"No, you can't! Nobody will respect a violent king with a quick temper! Your kingdom will fall apart if you have such a bad attitude."

"Why should I care?"

"Because you're going to be the King one day! You need to take care of your people and your land."

"But..."

"But nothing! I'm not going to let you slap me around! And your subjects won't either!"

"I... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry?" Kendall gasped.

"That's what I said, isn't it!" James pouted.

"James!" Kendall squealed and jumped up, engulfing James in a giant bear hug.

"Uck. Kendall... you're crushing me..."

"Oops! Sorry, sorry." Kendall released him. "I forgot you weren't fond of the hugging. But James... feeling sorry is good! That's exactly what I was trying to make you feel."

"It was?"

"Yes!" Kendall danced happily.

"I don't like this feeling." James said sadly.

Kendall laughed. "You're not supposed to like it. It goes away when you know you're forgiven. And you can avoid it completely by not doing bad things in the first place."

"So... do you think... this might be over soon? Will you not be staying with me anymore?"

"Hard to tell..." Kendall said thoughtfully. "I suppose you're learning rather quickly. Definitely faster than I could have imagined. I mean, you've already shown signs of caring about someone else and just now you actually apologized which means you realized you did something wrong. I'd say you're fast approaching your goal."

"Goal?"

"Of being King and never having to see me again." Kendall smiled brightly, because he knew that he was doing a good job of teaching the Prince compassion.

But James frowned a little. Being King was his ultimate goal. But Kendall was supposed to be his friend. Friends don't just go away, do they? _Oh, but we're not really friends. It's just while he's teaching me..._

"Right." James finally said, realizing he was lost in his thoughts.

The tutor sighed loudly. "Well, I guess we're done with your lessons for today, young prince. I can see any more time spent trying to drill this information into your tiny brain will be a waste."

"My brain is not tiny!" James yelled as the tutor slumped out of the room.

"If you studied," Kendall suggested, "she would know that."

"Don't start with me."

"I have an idea!" Kendall suddenly shouted.

James was startled but smiled at the look on Kendall's face. "What?"

"Let's go play outside!"

"Nah. I'm bored of the gardens."

"Not in the gardens." Kendall corrected. "In the yard."

"The yard? You mean where the servant children play? As if I'd play there."

"Hey, you play with me. You see me as an equal, right?"

"So? You're supposed to be my brother."

"But the fact is that I'm not. I'm nothing more than the child of a servant, and a bastard one at that! You couldn't find anyone less worthy than me, so you shouldn't have a problem playing with the other children."

James actually cringed at Kendall's use of the word 'bastard.' He knew that Kendall didn't have a father but did he have to be so straightforward and foul when describing himself? Wasn't 'illegitimate' a more proper term? Though he figured that sounded just as bad. "Is that how you really identify yourself? As a bastard servant child?"

"It's what I am. I'm not being negative, it's just the truth."

"And you're the only one who doesn't have a father?"

"Yes. So if you can put your prejudices aside for me, you should be able to do it for the other servant children. They don't have the reputation I do."

"But I didn't know about that reputation when I chose you to be my teacher!"

"I know that. And maybe it's for the best. Since you had to learn from someone like me, you shouldn't have any trouble accepting anyone else. I'm the lowest their is, James. So your acceptance of me warrants acceptance of everyone else as well, or else this was all for nothing."

"But... you're different..."

"Why? Because I've been your 'friend' for a few months? That doesn't raise my social standing. Nothing can change that."

"What if I refuse to play with them?"

"Then I quit. I'm going to go back to my family and tell your parents that you are unteachable and unfit to be king."

_You can't quit_. That was the first thought to enter James's head, followed by fear of not becoming king and disappointing his parents. "Fine. We'll go to the yard. But I can't guarantee anyone will want to play with _me_."

"True, they all think you're spoiled, which you _are_, but if they see you playing with me maybe they'll see that you're trying to not be so spoiled and they'll want you to join them."

"Whatever you say." James sighed.

"Come on! Maybe I'll get to see my brothers!" Kendall yelled delightedly and grabbed James's hand, dragging him to the servant's quarters.

He pulled him out the back door and they watched all the children playing in the grass with dirt on their noses and leaves in their hair.

"They're throwing mud!" James scowled and hid behind Kendall.

"It rained! They're having a mud war! We came just in time, James!"

"You mean this is what you do for fun?"

"Absolutely! Here, you just squat down and get a good handful of mud and fling it at anyone you can reach, like this!" Kendall scooped up some mud and plopped it right on top of James's head.

"Ugh! You put mud in my hair! You put _mud_ in my hair!"

"Well yeah!" Kendall sang joyfully. He stooped to get some more mud and grabbed James's hands. He gave the mud to James and smiled at him. "Here, throw it at me."

"Why?"

"Because it's fun!"

"I don't see how this is fun..."

"You will. Just throw it at me."

James sneered as he limply chucked the mud onto Kendall's chest. "Like that?"

"No, don't be a wuss about it! Put some muscle into it!" Kendall piled more mud into James's unwilling hands.

"I don't have any muscle!"

"Sure you do. Come on, hurl it right at me!"

"If you say so..." James smiled wickedly as he brought his arms back and threw the mud right into Kendall's face. He giggled a little, admitting that it was pretty fun.

Kendall laughed and wiped the mud out of his eyes. "See? Isn't that fun? Come on! There's mud all around." He kept throwing it at James. "There's different kinds, too. There's the really wet stuff here. Over under the trees, it's drier so you can make harder clumps of it. And by the fountain it's really sandy. Come on, don't be afraid, throw the mud at the other kids too." Kendall started running around, tossing mud at the other children.

James stood back and watched. "Kendall, I'm not throwing mud!" He tried to follow Kendall with his eyes, but he lost him.

Eventually Kendall found his way back to James and tried to pull him over to the crowd of children. "James, I know you want to play. I can see it in your eyes. Please come play with us?"

"I'll admit... it does look like a lot of fun... but I don't want to do it."

"Why not?"

"I... I'll get dirty."

"You're already dirty!"

"I just don't want to!"

"James, if you don't play with them, how are you ever going to..."

"Stop it!" James interrupted him. "It's... it's not because I don't want to play with them..."

"Then... what is it?" Kendall came a little closer.

"They won't..."

"Kendall!" Two more children covered in mud and grass ran towards them.

Kendall turned and jumped when he saw them. "Logan! Carlos!" The three brothers ended up slipping in the mud as they raced to hug each other. The resulting dog-pile made them all giggle.

"What are you doing here?" Carlos asked giddily.

"Yeah!" Logan agreed. "Did you finally escape from the brat?"

"Guys." Kendall frowned. "James isn't a brat."

Carlos and Logan stared at him for a minute before laughing.

"I'm serious!" Kendall insisted. "He was a little confused about things, but he's doing a lot better since I've been helping him."

"Yeah right!" Logan yelled.

"Hah!" Carlos laughed. "I bet he's sitting in his room right now counting all the things he has and we don't."

"Carlos, Logan, stop it right now!" Kendall yelled angrily. "He's standing right over there!"

Logan and Carlos stopped to look over at the muddy prince.

"What's he doing?" Carlos asked with a disgruntled sneer. "Has he come to yell at us because we're too close to him?"

"Or does he want us to practice being his servants since that's what we'll all grow up to do?" Logan added. "Well, most of us."

Kendall looked down at the comment. He knew Logan was talking about him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked, seeing Kendall's pain at his brother's words.

"It means you're selfish, that's what it means!" Logan yelled back.

"Not that! What do you mean 'most of you' are going to grow up to be my servants?"

Logan turned to see Kendall hanging his head. "I wasn't being mean, but everyone knows Kendall isn't fit to be a servant. He's a great person but we all know he's going to be thrown out of the castle. He knows it too. It's just how it is."

"That doesn't mean you can just rub it in his face!" James was shaking with rage. How could anyone say such things about Kendall? He was the only one who was ever willing to help him. He was so kind. And it wasn't his fault that no one wanted to take the time to teach him anything and it wasn't his fault that he didn't have a father. None of his misfortune was his fault. "Are you trying to hurt his feelings? How can you say such things about your own brother?"

"He knows I'm not saying it to be mean." Logan said softly. "I just... well... he never said anything about it hurting his feelings before..."

"And that automatically means it doesn't?" James didn't know where this was coming from. "Have you ever talked to him about it?"

"No." Carlos admitted. "We all just sort of silently accepted it. We don't talk about it, but all the kids know Kendall is seen as useless. We all love him, he's a great help around the house and stuff... but he can't even read!"

"That's because no one bothered to try teaching him!"

"Because he's slow." Logan said.

"He's not slow! You all just assume that because he's had some troubling things happen to him that he's a weak person and that he can't handle learning. But he's just as smart as the rest of you! And... for the record... he _can_ read." James announced, proudly crossing his arms.

Logan and Carlos gasped.

"Since when can you read?" Logan asked.

Kendall finally looked up, wiping the tears that had started to fall. "James has been teaching me..."

"And he's really good at it." James said stubbornly.

"Kendall..." Carlos said softly. "Why didn't you ever tell us that it hurt you to hear those things? If you would have just asked us to stop..."

"I couldn't." Kendall said. "I knew everyone expected me to just become this totally useless person and they'd just send me to the Far Village. And I didn't... I knew that I couldn't read or do math or anything... so I just figured that's what was supposed to happen to me and I didn't know that there were other options. I just... it was just something I knew. Like I knew Mom was a servant and Logan would train to become a healer and Carlos would be a keeper's apprentice. Everybody already knows what job they're going to have at the castle. And I knew that I would be sent away because I have no purpose. I had no reason to doubt it or fight it. So why would I say anything?"

"But why would you just accept something that you didn't like?" Logan asked sadly.

"Because I didn't have a choice! No one would teach me and everyone's futures were already outlined for them whether they liked it or not and so was mine! It didn't matter!"

"But it does matter." James said sternly. "The main thing you're trying to teach me is that everybody's feelings matter."

"Except mine. James... of all the people in your kingdom, who are in the lowest caste?"

James knew the answer. Of all the social studies lessons he'd had, he remembered this one. He mumbled the answer, not wanting to say it.

"Don't mumble, James, just say it out loud." Kendall glared.

"The people of the Far Village. Are you happy now?" James was becoming angry again. The Far Village was where the worst criminals and the people without skills were sent. They were the most indigent and overlooked people of the entire kingdom, and probably the world.

"Exactly." Kendall said. "The Far Village. _That's_ my destiny, and like my brothers said, we all know it. So yes, my job is to teach you that everybody matters, but when it comes to me, that rule doesn't apply."

"But... you're not a Far Villager yet." James said. "And maybe you never will be. You're learning really well. Maybe you'll be allowed to stay."

"I appreciate your words," Kendall sniffed, "but I doubt I'll be able to stay."

"You won't know for sure until you come of age." Carlos tried to help.

"That's true." Logan chimed in.

"Thanks, guys." Kendall said, trying his best to sound happy. "But I don't really want to be a servant anyway." He actually giggled before saying, "In fact, I bet James is so sick of me, he wouldn't want me serving him anyway."

_That's not true_, James thought. _Why does he think I want him to go away?_ "We should go inside and get cleaned up." He grabbed Kendall's arm.

"You should come visit more often." Carlos said suddenly.

"Yeah, Mom really misses you." Logan said. "And Katie, too."

"Has Fabio been around?" Kendall inquired about his sister's father.

"A few times, actually." Logan said with surprise on his face. "He brought us some expensive food. We were going to save some for you..."

"But we didn't know when we'd see you again." Carlos finished for him.

"It's ok." Kendall smiled. "You know I would have given mine to you anyway."

"True." Both Carlos and Logan said sheepishly.

"Please come to visit?" Carlos begged.

"I will if James allows me to." Kendall said quietly.

"Of course you can visit your family." James said nicely. "How about tomorrow?"

"Ok!" Kendall said happily. "I need a bath now anyway and I'll probably be tired after that. So I'll see you guys tomorrow! And don't tell Mom I'm coming, I want it to be a surprise!"

"We won't tell." Logan promised. He and Carlos waved goodbye as James pulled Kendall back inside the castle.

They tracked mud all through the halls.

They washed up and by the time they were all clean, it was dark outside.

"I guess we should go to bed." Kendall said sleepily.

"Yeah." James agreed, just as tired. "Hey... are you alright?"

"Yes."

"You... Do you really think there's no chance of you being allowed to stay in the castle?"

"Pretty much."

"But you can read now."

"Only a little."

"But... you're helping me! How can you be useless when you're teaching _me_ to be a good person?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Well... it does to me." James nodded. "You've been so kind to me even though I was always horrible to you and everyone else. If there's anything I can do to help you..."

"You want to help me?" Kendall said, shocked.

"Yeah."

"Wow. I really _am_ a good teacher!"

"So what can I do?" James asked.

"I don't know. I don't want to stay at the castle. I can read a few words, but I'm still pretty useless. But I don't want to go to the Far Village either."

"What if... is there another village you'd rather go to?"

"What?"

"Another village. Another place you'd rather live. If you could choose?"

"I've never been off the castle grounds, so I don't know what any other villages are like. I know about the Far Village because that's where they want to send me. I've heard about some other ones. The Sky Village is where my mother is from, I think. And my brothers. And there's the Burnt Village, it's supposed to be beautiful despite its name. And of course the Village of Honor, where the soldiers are trained."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about any of those places." James observed.

"Well, there's the Orphan Village. It's not really for orphans, it's where young people go after they leave their parents' houses. I've thought about going there."

"Why?"

"Because other people my age will be there. It's supposed to be a place where people who are just getting started in their lives go to make something out of themselves. I suppose I could go there from the Far Village, but it's supposedly a long and difficult journey."

"What if I have you escorted there rather than forced to go to the Far Village?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"Sure."

"You know... it would go against your father's orders."

"I never listen to my father anyway. But this isn't about that. You should be able to be happy. You deserve it after sacrificing time with your family to come help me."

"Wow. You're really different than the Prince I promised to change."

"It's all thanks to you."

"You're going to be a great King, James."

James laughed fondly, but became a little sad. If he was on his way to reclaiming his inheritance of the throne, that would mean Kendall would be leaving him soon. And he wouldn't just be staying in the servant quarters. Eventually he would be taken out of the castle completely. _It's weird. Even though it was just for the sake of teaching... Kendall feels like a real friend._

"Is sleeping on the floor uncomfortable?" James asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Do you like sleeping on the floor?"

"Well... I don't particularly like it... but it's not very different from a hay mat. If anything, it's more comfortable since you gave me a down-filled blanket."

"Really? I couldn't imagine sleeping on the floor."

"You wouldn't have to." Kendall said.

"Right. But... would you be more comfortable on a bed?"

"Why? Is there an extra I can use?"

"Well... no... but you could come up here and share with me."

"Share?" Kendall stared at him again.

"Yeah. If you think just the blanket is comfortable, you should feel the mattress."

"Are you sure? You're not worried I'll get servant cooties on it?"

"There's no such thing." James scoffed.

"Just checking." Kendall said and climbed into James's bed with him. He laid back and sighed. "It's so soft."

"It's warm too." James pulled the covers up over both their tiny bodies.

"Thanks, James." Kendall yawned. "For this and for sticking up for me earlier. You're a good friend."

James was going to respond but he heard Kendall snore. _He thinks I'm a good friend? Maybe that was my goal this whole time after all..._

X

They both slept soundly through the night. James woke up first in the morning and began shaking Kendall awake. They got dressed and James fed him breakfast before they went back to the servant quarters.

Kendall was giddy as he walked up to his family's door. He knocked at the door and shouted loudly when his mother answered. "Mom!"

"Oh! Kendall!" Mrs. Knight leaned down to embrace her son. "It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Mom!"

"Hello, James." she looked down at him and smiled. She was always such a tender woman.

"Hello, Mrs. Knight."

"My, you're so polite." she said happily. "Would you like to come in for a treat?"

"Yeah!" Kendall dashed inside the house.

James just stayed where he was.

"James, I was inviting you as well." Mrs. Knight offered, seeing the conflict on the boy's face.

"Thank you, but I'm fine." He folded his hands in front of him and hung his head.

Mrs.s Knight stooped down and put her arm around him. "Come on, we've got plenty to spare. My husband brought us sweet dough, so we have a few different pastries to choose from."

"I can't."

"Look," if if was possible, her eyes became even softer, "I know I'm just a servant and my food is simple and humble, but it's..."

"It's not that." James said sadly.

"Well then my dear boy, what's the matter?"

"I... I wouldn't feel right taking food from you." James tried to hold back the tears, but he couldn't. He felt so bad for insulting the family on multiple occasions. He'd come into their home and treated them like they weren't even human. And now they were offering him their food?

"Aw, sweetie." She hugged him and let him cry on her shoulder. "You're certainly different than the Prince I watched grow up."

"Kendall showed me how selfish and mean I was. I'm not like that anymore. Well, I mean... I try my best not to be. Sometimes I slip up..."

"As well you should." Mrs. Knight soothed him. "You are just a child, after all. There's no harm in being just a little selfish."

"Mrs. Knight... I'm sorry I was rude to you. I feel really bad about it." James cried harder.

"It's ok. Shh, it's ok. I accept your apology. You're completely forgiven, James."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Now, why don't you come inside and have something sweet?"

"But..."

"James, please." Mrs. Knight smiled at him. "I told you, we have plenty to spare. It would hurt my feelings if you didn't eat something."

"Well," James smiled as he wiped his eyes, "when you put it like that..."

"Yay!" She stood and brought James inside.

"Hey, James, I was wondering when you would come inside." Kendall said, handing him a pastry.

"I was talking to your mom..."

"Was I right?"

"Yeah. She just... she hugged me and said it was ok..."

"See, I told you she'd forgive you. She's awesome." Kendall took a bite of his pastry.

"Now I know where you get it from." James said before thinking. He'd meant the kindness, but he couldn't deny that Kendall was kind of awesome.

Kendall stopped chewing and stared at James. "Thanks... um... Logan and Carlos have something they want to say to you too."

"Boys!" Mrs. Knight shouted for her other sons. Carlos and Logan walked into the room also holding some doughy confections. "I believe there's something you want to tell James?"

"We're sorry we were mean to you." Carlos said sadly.

"Yeah, and we're glad you stuck up for Kendall and are taking such good care of him." Logan added.

"It's ok." James said with wide eyes. "I'm sorry too. For how horrible I was to you all this time."

"It's fine." Kendall said for his brothers. "That's all in the past. We all did things we weren't proud of, but we all forgive each other."

"Except for you." Carlos said lightheartedly. "You've never done anything wrong."

"Yeah, you're just an angel." Logan said.

"Hey, why does that not sound like a compliment?" Kendall wondered, but ended up laughing to dispel the awkwardness.

"How long are you staying?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, we want you back." Logan said.

"Uh... I'm not sure..." Kendall looked over at James. "I wasn't planning on staying long... we have a busy day ahead of us..."

"You can stay while I attend to my business." James said quietly.

"I can stay...?" Kendall asked.

"Stay as long as you want." James continued. "Just come back to my room whenever you're ready."

"But..."

"You miss your family, right? Then stay with them for a while. I'll be ok without you for one day."

"What if I don't come back to you?"

James's eyes widened and he bit his lip. "If you don't want to... there isn't really much I can do about it."

"But would you want me to come back?"

"Yes! I... I mean... I still think I need to learn some things..."

"Ok. Then I'll be back at bedtime." Kendall said with a small smile. "You know, you could stay and hang out with us if you'd rather."

"It's not that I wouldn't like that... but I really do have things I must do."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight."

X

James was really happy to know Kendall was off playing with his brothers. But he missed him. He was distracted all day thinking about him. Even during his lessons which he promised to pay more attention to, he couldn't stop thinking about Kendall.

No matter how he looked at it, Kendall was his friend. They weren't pretending anymore. Were they?

At the end of the day, he was practically giddy to see Kendall walk into his bedroom.

"Hey!" He ran right up to him and hugged him.

"Did you miss me?" Kendall said, returning the hug.

"Well... yeah..." James admitted shyly.

"It's ok, you don't have to be embarrassed about it. I missed you too."

"Really? Because the whole day I just kept wishing you were with me... I mean... I'm glad you got to spend time with your family... but I kept feeling like you were _mine_ and that they weren't allowed to have you... I thought about coming and dragging you back but I couldn't..."

"James, I understand how you feel. And I'm glad you decided against forcing me to come back, even though I probably would have come willingly. Friends aren't possessions that you can own, but it's ok to miss them."

_So... we're really friends? Because I was done pretending a long time ago..._ "I'm just glad you're back."

"Are you sure you still need me? You seem like a perfect little Prince now."

"No... I do... definitely. It wasn't just that I missed you... I kept feeling like you belonged to me and they didn't have any right to take you away from me. That's bad... right?"

"Well... yes, but you have the conscience to know it's bad. So you should be able to teach yourself how to restrain your impulsive actions from now on..."

"Please stay? Just a few more days to make sure?"

"Ok." Kendall arched his eyebrows, wondering absently if James was up to something.

James smiled and hugged Kendall some more. He'd missed the sensation of being hugged. But now he only had Kendall for a few more days. Was Kendall really only pretending to be his friend? Or was he beginning to care about him and was just too shy to admit it? How was he supposed to tell Kendall that he didn't want to end their friendship?


	8. Slave Plague

**Chapter 8 - Slave Plague (Posted 1 April 2011)**

**A/N: This speedy update is to say "thank you" to all you wonderful reviewers! I'm thrilled to have such an immediate response to a chapter so here is chapter 8! And to address the age/romance issue, they should be around 8 or 9 by now, somewhere around there because i haven't outlined an exact timeline. It's been a few months or so since Kendall was forced to become James's teacher. And even though there might be some sweetness, they're not forming any kind of romantic relationship yet. They're strictly in the friendship stage at this point lol. The romance will come when they're older (about a chapter or two in the future). Hope that helped :D**

It's been a little over a week since Kendall's visit with his family and he was missing them badly. James had insisted that he still needed Kendall, but he hadn't done anything close to wrong since then. Sure, he pouted a little bit and complained about his lessons, but those were normal. Kendall accepted them without worry and assured James that he should be fine on his own now. But James was adamant so Kendall had agreed to stay a little while longer just to be completely sure.

They had just spent the morning in the courtyard being entertained by the Gustavo the Jester. He juggled and told jokes and the boys laughed with him until he was summoned by the King and Queen.

They were talking in the garden when they were approached by a messenger. "Prince James and Kendall Knight, carrier Bitters requesting permission to approach."

"Permission granted." James said. "What message do you have for us?"

"The healer Hollywood has requested Kendall's presence at the Knight residence immediately."

"Healer? What's going on?" Kendall stood and asked the messenger.

"I know not the nature of his call, but he has been there since last night." the carrier replied.

"Oh no..." Kendall looked over at James, who was also staring worriedly at Kendall. "James... can we please go see what's happening?"

"Of course..." He put a hand on Kendall's shoulder. Then he looked at the message carrier. "You are dismissed."

The messenger bowed his head and trudged away.

James expected Kendall to start running towards the servant quarters, but he just stood still.

"Kendall... I thought you wanted to go..."

"I'm scared."

"Don't be scared. You won't know how bad it is until you get there. We need to hurry!" James knew that Kendall's fear for his family was probably paralyzing him, so he took it upon himself to get his friend moving. He grabbed both his hands and started pulling him desperately into the castle. He ran as fast as he could, pulling Kendall behind him. "Here, you go inside."

"I can't!" Kendall was crying now, big tears were plopping onto the stone floor.

"You have to! Whoever is sick wanted you to be there! You _have_ to go in!

"Alone?"

"Yes, alone. This is your family, they want to see _you_!" James tried to push Kendall into the room, but he wouldn't budge.

"I won't go in unless you come with me!"

"But... but... they're not my family..."

"So? I don't want to go in there all by myself, James. Please! Are you my friend or not!"

_I don't know!_ "Fine. Go, I'm right behind you."

Kendall nodded sadly and entered his family's dwelling. He was ambushed by his brothers.

"Kendall!" Logan ran to him frantically. "We've been waiting for you!"

"Yeah," Carlos panted, "Mom and Katie are really sick. We don't know what to do. We called the healer and he's been here trying to treat them but they're not getting any better!"

"Where's the healer?"

"In Mom and Katie's room."

"Come on, James." Kendall said, forcing James to come with him as they walked further into the home. They walked through what appeared to be a tiny living room and into an even tinier bedroom. Mrs. Knight was laying on an undersized hay mat, sweating and barely breathing, while the healer was bent over a cradle where James assumed Katie was laying.

"Healer Hollywood!" Kendall cried. "What's wrong with them?"

"I'm not sure." the healer said, not looking up from the cradle. Healer Hollywood was the resident medical expert who treated the servants. "I think it might be Slave Plague."

"What is that?" the three brothers asked.

James surprised everyone by answering before the doctor. "It's an unexplainable sickness that infects servants. Mostly women and children. Nobody knows what it comes from, but if that is what it is, we all risk catching it."

"How do you know that?" the healer asked the Prince.

"It was my science lesson not too long ago." James answered.

"Well, you're exactly right. The exposed children should leave these quarters immediately. I'm putting this room under quarantine."

"We don't have anywhere to go!" Logan protested.

"The other families won't let us near them." Carlos said, scared.

"You can come with me." James offered. He would do anything to protect Kendall, and by extension, his brothers as well.

"I'm not leaving them!" Kendall said stubbornly.

"Kendall, you have to!" James shouted. _Since when have I become the voice of reason in this relationship?_

"No!" Kendall yelled at him. "You made me come here! I can't leave now!"

"Kendall, you can't get sick!" James was so worried. The Slave Plague was deadly not only to servants, anyone could catch it.

"Why not? It's probably better if I do!"

"Don't say that!" James shouted.

"Kendall, come on!" Carlos pleaded.

"Mom would want us to go! We're not leaving without you." Logan said as he tried to pull him.

Kendall grabbed onto the frame of the door. "No! Just go! I wanna stay!"

James looked to Kendall's brothers. "Come on," he told them, "if we all pull him, we can carry him out."

"Right." Logan and Carlos agreed.

All three boys grabbed Kendall's arms and legs and pried him off the door. They ran as they carried him away, hoping to give him no chance of getting back.

"No! Put me down! Please put me down!" Kendall cried loudly.

"We can go to my room and wait for the healer to come talk to us." James said as he lead the way. Kendall kicked and screamed the whole way.

When they finally made it to James's room, they put Kendall on the floor and held him down. He tried to fight them off, but he wasn't strong enough to overpower the three of them.

Finally, he gave up. He laid back on the hard floor and let out loud cries that echoed throughout the room.

"Kendall, we'll let go of you if you promise not to run away." Logan offered.

Kendall just whimpered and nodded. The three boys took their weight off of him and he sat up, putting his head between his knees. He continued to sob.

"Kendall please don't cry." Carlos said, wrapping his arms around him.

"When you cry, everyone starts to cry." Logan said through his own tears.

Even James was busy wiping the salty drops out of his eyes.

"Aren't you worried about them?" Kendall asked softly.

"Of course we are." Logan said. "But healer Hollywood is taking care of them. They're going to be ok."

"Yeah, he'll fix them right up." Carlos said. "Right, James?"

"Um..." _What should I tell them?_ James didn't know what was the right thing to do. He knew lying was bad, but for a time like this, was it ok? He never really paid attention in his lessons, but the Slave Plague story had been scary. Horrible images had been etched into his brain, so he knew how the sickness worked. He knew that there was no way a servant healer would have the means to cure such a violent disease. Their mother and sister were as good as dead. But should he tell them that? Should he tell them what to expect or let them have some hope? He didn't want to see any of them hurt, but no matter what he said, they were going to be hurt anyway.

"James?" Kendall looked up and silently begged for an answer.

"I... I'm sorry... but there isn't anything your healer can do for them..." James said sadly.

"What?" All three brothers asked with eyes full of horror.

"Please don't be mad at me." James cried. "I wish I could tell you that they're going to be fine but... I don't want to lie to you and have you be more hurt later... I..."

Kendall looked down and stayed silent while the other boys just watched him. What were they to do?

James was the only one who thought to get down on his knees and hug Kendall. "I'm sorry."

"You're not supposed to be sorry for things you didn't do." Kendall said, his teacher-mode kicking in.

"But I am. I'm sorry this is hurting you."

Kendall relented and wrapped his arms around James as well. He cried on James's shoulder for a few minutes until he fell asleep.

"He's asleep." James whispered. "Someone help me grab him and lift him onto the bed."

Both Carlos and Logan helped James lift Kendall's slack body onto the big bed.

"James... are Mom and Katie really..." Carlos couldn't finish.

"I'm sorry." James said again. "If there was anything I could do..." James froze. Of course there was something he could do! He was the Prince! "I might be able to help..."

"How?" Logan said, looking for any shred of hope he could hold onto.

"We'll have to go talk to my mother and father."

"How is that going to help?" Logan asked.

"Just come with me." James said, not waiting for them to follow.

The two boys caught up to him and followed James into the throne room.

"James, darling!" the Queen squealed with delight. When she saw her son come closer with his face streaked with tears, she gasped. "James, what's going on?"

"Mother, please... you have to help..."

"James," the King bellowed, "we told you, you are to do things on your own! We will not help you with anything!"

"It's not me!" James said. "It's Kendall... his mother and sister are deathly ill. They have Slave Plague! The self-proclaimed healer is doing his best, but his skills and supplies are insufficient. They're going to die!"

"What do you expect us to do about it?" the Queen asked lightly.

"Have the Royal Medicine Man treat them! Please! I'm begging you." James fell to his knees and clasped his hands above his head. "These are his brothers. You don't want them to lose their mother, do you? And their sister is just an infant! Besides, you promised Kendall you would take care of his family if he promised to teach me how to be a better person. You have to honor your word!"

"Very well." the King said quickly. "Guards, fetch the Royal Medicine Man and escort him to the servant quarters. Tell him we will pay whatever amount he asks in order to save the woman and her daughter. And have him check every other tenant and treat them if they show signs of having caught the disease."

"Thank you, Father!" James shouted.

"Thank you, sir!" the brothers bowed.

"No need to thank me, children. It is my job as your master to make sure you are all happy and healthy. Please, go back to your family when the medicine man arrives." the King told them.

Carlos and Logan bowed their heads and ran from the room, eager to go back to their mother and sister.

"James," the Queen addressed him, "could we have a word?"

"Yes, Mother." James answered quietly.

"You know, impulsiveness is not a good trait in a ruler."

"Yes, Mother, I know, but..."

"However," the Queen smiled, "being able to make decisions in pressing times is very a very rare and honorable quality."

"And," the King declared proudly, "putting the needs of your people ahead of yourself will earn you much respect and trust. Caring about your subjects, including those who live to serve you, is a necessity."

"What are you saying...?" James asked.

The King beamed. "We're saying, you've become quite a charming heir to my throne."

"You mean it? I get to be King?" James said excitedly. There were still traces of tears on his face, but they made his eyes sparkle.

"Yes. When you come of age, you will become the King." his mother told him happily.

"This is wonderful!" James jumped. "But... what about Kendall?"

"He'll be allowed to go back with his family." the King said.

James pursed his lips and stared at his parents. "Is it true that you plan to send him to the Far Village?"

"I'm afraid that is what the other servants have recommended." the Queen answered sadly.

"Please don't send him there."

"What? Why not?" the King asked. "You question my authority?"

"No... but yes... Father, please! Kendall doesn't want to go to the Far Village!"

"But... he won't do well as a servant..." the King said pensively. "No one will take him as an apprentice, and we hear he's not very smart..."

"Why does everyone say that? Kendall is just as intelligent as anyone! He just... he doesn't know his place... I mean... he doesn't know what he's good at. But, I've been teaching him how to read, and he's really taken to it. Though... I don't know how much he'll be able to learn once he goes back to his family."

"James, you've really grown." his mother said fondly. "It's obvious you care about this boy. We don't want to send him to the Far Village if you don't think that's best. And we certainly don't want to see you lose a friend. What would you like us to do?"

"We could offer to let him stay as a guest." the King suggested. "That way he could stay as long as he likes and..."

"No." James sighed. "He doesn't want to stay here either."

"He doesn't?" the Queen was confused. "I thought you were friends?"

"Well... we are... but he wants to go to the Orphan Village."

"And you'd let him?" the Queen asked. "Wouldn't you rather have him stay here?"

"Obviously. But he wants to go to the Orphan Village. Will you please take him there instead of sending him to the Far Village?"

"If you think that would be better for him, then of course we will." The Queen was so happy that her son had finally found a friend. "You're a good little boy, James. You and Kendall are both very lucky to have each other as friends."

"Yeah." James was sad. He still wasn't sure if Kendall was really his friend or not. He was pretty sure he was just afraid to admit it because James was the Prince, but James didn't care about that anymore. Kendall had shown him that status didn't matter when it came to friendship. "Um... Mother?"

"Yes, dear?"

"You're friends with Kendall's mother, right?"

"I most certainly am."

"Is that why you wanted me to have one of her sons help me?"

"It is. I try to maintain friendly relationships with all the servants, but Mrs. Knight has become a dear friend of mine. And I thank you for informing me of her illness, it was very noble of you and saved me much grief."

"You're welcome, Mother. Mrs. Knight is very kind. I hope they can save her..."

"I'm sure they're doing all they can, son." the King assured him. "Now, you've had a very tiring day, I assume. Why don't you go rest? I'll have someone inform you of the result as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Father." James bowed and left the throne room. He returned to his own bedroom and noticed Kendall was still asleep on his bed. He figured his brothers must have been in such a hurry to check on the girls that they forgot to wake him. But he was glad. This meant he had a little more time with him.

He climbed up into the bed and laid next to his sleeping friend. What would happen after he was allowed to go back to his family? Would he want to stay James's friend? Would they still play together? Would he still want James to teach him to read? Or would it just stop? Would Kendall continue to say that this was just for the sake of changing James? He didn't want that. Kendall was the only one who'd ever taken the time to get to know him. And he'd done the same for Kendall. That's what friends do, right? And once they've helped each other, it doesn't just end there. Does it?


	9. The Royal Mark

**Chapter 9 - The Royal Mark (Posted 2 April 2011)**

**A/N: Again, thank you for so many reviews! And I know this might seem a little random, but if you're looking for a roommate and you live in Pennsylvania or knows someone who does, let me know.**

James woke up as the bright sun shined through the windows. He never even realized he fell asleep. He thought Kendall would still be asleep beside him, but he didn't feel anyone there. He looked and felt around but after a few minutes he admitted to himself that Kendall had left.

_He's probably back with his family,_ he thought. _Should I go see how they're doing?_ James nodded to himself and quickly went to the servant quarters.

"Kendall?" He asked, peering inside their room. "Logan? Carlos? Hello?"

"James!" Kendall came running from the back of the home and barreled into James, hugging him tightly. "Your father paid to have my mother and sister treated! They're already doing so much better!"

"They are? That's wonderful." James said happily. "I'm so glad they're going to be ok."

Suddenly the two other brothers also came running and joined in the hug.

"James, we were hoping you'd come!" Carlos shouted.

"Yeah, how can we ever thank you?" Logan asked.

"Don't worry about it. Just knowing I was able to help is enough." James barely choked the words out as the three brothers squished him.

Kendall pulled away and stared at James. "You... you did this?"

"I wasn't going to mention it..." James said shyly. He'd wanted to just let Kendall think it was some kind of miracle. But seeing the smile that made its way across Kendall's face put his mind at ease.

"Why not? James... I don't know what to say..."

"That's why. I didn't want to take the attention away from your family."

"You know what..." Kendall said proudly. "I don't think you really changed, James."

"What?" _How could he say a thing like that about me?_

"I don't think you were ever a bad kid." Kendall explained. "I think this caring person was in there this whole time, you just needed someone to help you realize it."

"I don't know... I was pretty bad..."

"You were, but I think if you were truly a brat you wouldn't have learned so quickly. It's like you haven't really learned anything new except for how to access your caring nature."

"Even if that's true..." James said, even though he doubted it, "I still couldn't have done it without you, Kendall. You're the first friend I ever had. And thanks to you, I get to be the King one day."

"Really?" Kendall asked with a little sadness in his voice. "I'm happy for you, James..."

"Hey... if you're happy, why do you sound so sad?"

"Um, I'd rather answer that question in private." Kendall whispered.

James looked at Kendall's brothers. "Would you mind if I took him away for a few minutes?"

They shook their heads.

James brought Kendall back to his room. "Now, tell me why you're sad. It's true what your brothers said; when you cry, everyone around you starts crying."

"Because they pity me. But that's not what I want to talk about. James... when this all started, I knew that our friendship was pretend. I accepted it, thinking everything could just go back to normal once it was over. But it can't. I've come to care about you a lot, James. I have lots of friends, but you showed me a friendship beyond casual acquaintanceships. I... I don't know if you're thinking the same thing or not but... I don't want to stop being your friend. I mean, of course there isn't anything I can do if you'd rather have me never speak to you again..."

"I don't want that." James said. "I've been worrying about the same thing. I know we were just thrown together but... this friendship is real. It feels that way, anyway. But I wouldn't know since I've never had a friend before..."

"You'd really like to keep me as a friend?"

"Absolutely."

"Wow. That makes it that much harder..."

"What?"

"I didn't plan for this. I convinced myself you would rather forget about me once your parents gave you what you wanted." Kendall said softly.

"Kendall... that kind of hurts. I wouldn't do anything so selfish. It's true that that's what I wanted in the beginning... but you changed me. I would never..."

"Please stop." Kendall begged as he started crying wildly. "I'm so sorry..."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"I... I never planned on staying..."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean." James lied.

"Well... all this time I thought you would just want to forget about me. So I worked out this plan... to escape. I knew I'd be sent to the Far Village..."

"Oh, Kendall please don't cry. There's something I have to tell you. Mother and Father said they'll take you wherever you want! They won't force you to go to the Far Village..."

"So? Whether it's to the Far Village or to the Orphan Village, they're still going to exile me from the castle! And I don't want that!"

"But... I thought you wanted to go..."

"I do. But don't you understand? I don't want to be _sent_ there. I want to _go_ there. On my own terms. I want to make it there by my own sweat. It won't mean anything if I'm just sent there. That's why I'm going to run away."

"Run away? You can't run away! You have to stay here. I won't let you leave! I'll have the guards watch every exit. I'll..."

"James. Do you care about me?"

"What a stupid question..."

"Just answer it." Kendall insisted.

"Yes, I do. So will you please..."

"If you care about me, you'll let me go!"

"That doesn't make any sense at all. I want you here, by my side, throwing mud at me and hugging me."

"But if I stay here... people will only be unhappy. It'd be so much easier for everyone if I wasn't here. One less kid to keep track of. One less mouth to feed. I don't earn my keep, so it's not like they'd be losing a valuable worker."

"Kendall, that isn't true!"

"But it is! Face it, I'm hopeless here, James. Even if I would discover a useful skill, it's too late. Everyone already expects me to fail, so no one will give me a chance. But it's different out there. Outside the castle, no one knows me! I can learn a skill and build a reputation. I can have a life I can be proud of. No one will know I was just a servant or that I was destined for the Far Village. No one will know I have no father. It's an opportunity I just can't pass up."

"I can't let you go."

"What do you expect me to do?" Kendall pleaded. "Sit around and watch while everyone but me lives a meaningful life?"

"You're just a kid! The meaning of your life is just to be happy."

"But I'm not happy."

"You're not?"

"No. But I would be if I ran away."

"You're not going to change your mind?" James asked through his own tears.

"I'm sorry, but no."

"Ok. I won't stop you. I'll even help you make it safely to the outside. But on two conditions."

"Which are?"

"Let me give you some money. Not enough to draw attention to yourself, just enough to get you through the first few weeks."

"I guess I can't object to that." Kendall said absently. "What's the second one?"

"Let me put my royal mark on your arm."

"Royal mark?" Kendall looked doubtful.

"It's a crest designed specifically to mark my reign. See, I have it on my wrist." James pulled back the sleeve on his left arm to reveal a raised image. "It hurts for a while, but it goes away."

"How do you put it on?"

"There's a branding rod with a stamp on the end of it. The stamp has hundreds of tiny spikes on it in the shape of the crest. They get it really hot and dip it in the ink quick, and then they press it into your skin." James unconsciously rubbed his mark. "The ink is permanently imbedded into your skin. And the heat burns your skin so much and so rapidly that it scars it, leaving a raised area to amplify the crest."

"Why do you want to do that to me?"

"In case you would ever decide to come back. Kendall, once you're out there, I can't guarantee I'll be able to get you back in, even if you tell us who you are. If you escape... it's like you don't exist anymore. If you would ever want to come back to... to visit your family or friends... all you'd need to do is show your mark to any soldier or member of the guard and you will be escorted inside immediately."

"It sounds really painful."

"It is. But if you don't do it, I'll make sure you never make it past the gates. I'm serious, Kendall. I don't want you to leave, but if you do this, it'll be easier for me."

"Ok. If it'll make you happy, I'll do it."


	10. Saying Goodbye

**Chapter 10 - Saying Goodbye (Posted 3 April 2011)**

**A/N: Ahh, you guys are reviewing faster than I can write :D**

"It's going to hurt." James said as he led Kendall down the dark hallway.

It was nighttime, the best time to sneak into the basement where the hottest fires burned. They'd waited a week so that Kendall would have some quality time with his family, but now he was ready to go.

"You said that about a hundred times already." Kendall sighed.

"Because it's true. It's not like a pinch and then it's over. You have to leave it on your skin for five whole seconds so it can really burn in. It may not seem like a long time, but believe me, it is."

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"Because I don't want you to do this." James said as they finally reached the basement. "I don't want you to leave. And if that means scaring you into staying, then I'll do it."

"That's selfish."

"No it's not. _You're_ selfish. Do you know how much your family is going to miss you?"

"I thought about it. But they'll get over it." Kendall said deeply.

"And what about me? You just expect me to get over it?"

"James..."

"No. Just listen to me for a minute. You're my friend. And not just a regular friend. You're my best friend. Your brothers are my friends now along with some of the other servant kids, but none of them compare to you. You understand me. And... and I understand you. I don't want to lose that."

"But... Don't you see? I have to go. I..."

"If you don't want to be a burden to your family, you could just stay with me."

Kendall frowned. "You'd really do that?"

"I'd do anything to get you to stay."

"I'm sorry. Nothing can make me stay."

"How did I know you were going to say that?" James asked sadly.

"It's like you said. You understand me."

James bit his lip and turned from Kendall. He walked toward a wall where three large fireplaces were harbored giant flames. "They keep these fires burning all the time. I don't know why. It seems wasteful, but it actually works out for us. The branding rods are hanging on that wall over there. I want you to grab the one with my name on it."

"There are so many." Kendall said, staring at the rods hanging against the wall.

"They keep them from all the previous rulers."

"I found it." Kendall stretched his body to reach up and grab the handle. He ran over to James and handed it to him.

James examined the rod and stuck it in the flames. "We have to let it heat up for a few minutes."

"Ok."

"Kendall... will you promise me one more thing?"

"That depends." Kendall said, even though he knew he'd most likely accept the promise no matter what it was.

"Come to my coronation."

"What?"

"The whole kingdom will be invited, so no one will have to know who you are. And you don't have to seek me out or anything, I just want you to be there. I want you to see it since it wouldn't be possible without you."

"That's almost ten years from now."

"I know."

"And how will you know I was there if you don't see me?"

"If you promise to come, I'll trust you."

Kendall blinked. "Ok. I promise."

"Thank you." James honestly would have no way of knowing if Kendall was there or not. But he had to believe he'd keep his word. They sat in silence for a while, just looking around at the odd things in the room. "It should be ready by now. Give me your arm."

Kendall extended his arm and laid it in James's hand. "Is it really going to hurt?"

"Yes. I wasn't only saying that to scare you. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Here, bite this." James handed him a piece of cloth from his pocket.

"Why?"

"It'll help with the pain and muffle your screaming."

"You're not kidding." Kendall became genuinely frightened.

"There's still time to back out. Just say the word and we'll go back upstairs and act like this never happened."

"My mind is made up James. Just do it." Kendall stuck the cloth in his mouth and bit down. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hand into a fist in preparation for the pain.

James took a deep breath and pulled the rod out of the flames. "Are you sure?"

Kendall just nodded quickly.

"Okay, I'll do it on the count of three... One... Two... Three!"

He pressed the stamp end of the rod onto Kendall's wrist and his heart almost stopped when he heard Kendall scream. He wanted to stop hurting him, but if he pulled it off too early it wouldn't work. So he counted in his head. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. And pulled the stamp off of Kendall's arm, throwing it aside.

James pulled Kendall's arm up to his lips and spit on the fresh mark. He rubbed it in, determined to keep working over the other boy's harsh cries. He grabbed another cloth from his pocket and wrapped it around Kendall's wrist, tying it tightly.

"There." James said quietly as he threw his arms around the still sobbing boy. "It's done, Kendall. It's over now."

Kendall hugged James back with one arm and cried into his neck. "It hurts, James."

"I know. But the sting will go away in a few days. Just keep rubbing spit on it if it gets more agitated. And keep it wrapped for a while. You don't want it to bump against anything when it's raw like this."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you do this. I know you're sad that I'm leaving... but I need to do this."

"I know. Come on, we've got to make it to the stables before the merchants leave."

"Why?"

"How do you think you're getting away? You're going to sneak onto one of their carts."

"You've really thought this through."

"I don't want to risk you getting caught." James said, putting his hands on Kendall's shoulders. "I want you to be able to get out in one try."

"Thank you."

"Come on." James grabbed Kendall's good hand and pulled him back upstairs.

"Where are we going?"

"We can't go out any of the doors, they're all guarded. We're going to climb out the window at the end of this hall. It isn't used for much, and there are a few guards outside, but we're small so we should be able to sneak past them."

Kendall nodded. "Ok."

"Here," James said when they reached the window, "climb on my back and then pull me out."

"Got it." Kendall watched as James got onto all fours. He stepped up and out the window. Standing on the narrow ledge right under it, he leaned back in and pulled James out. "How will you get back inside?"

"I'll just climb back up. It's easier from the outside. This way." James began running toward what appeared to be a large shed. "The stables. The merchants will be leaving from the front, so if you sneak in from the back, you should be able to hide in one of the carriages."

"How will I know where they're going?"

"You won't." James looked worriedly at Kendall. "You'll just have to trust your instinct and get off when you feel like it. You can ask the villagers how to get around from there."

"Ok." Kendall said shakily.

"Having second thoughts?"

"No. I'm just... nervous. It just hit me, you know? This is really happening."

"It doesn't have to."

"Not this again, James..."

"Here, take this." James unhooked a small satchel from his belt.

"What is it?"

"Some gold and silver, just a few tiny pieces to hold you over."

"Thank you. This means a lot to me..."

"It's just money."

"Not the money." Kendall hugged James. "It means a lot that you're helping me. You're an amazing person and you're going to be a great King."

"Kendall... please don't go."

"I've got no choice." Kendall reasoned.

"Yes you do! You can choose to stay here with me and your brothers and..."

"Stop it, please, just stop it. I'm going and that's final."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"Maybe." Kendall answered.

"Maybe." James repeated. "That's a 'no,' then?"

"I didn't say..."

"You don't have to. I finally find a friend and he runs away. I know you're never going to come back."

"Then why did you put your Royal Mark on me?"

"Just to give you the option. And so you know that no matter what, I'll never forget you."

"I'll never forget you either."

"I'm going to miss you."

"I know."

"You're my best friend, Kendall, and you always will be. I love you."

"I love you too. And I'll be at your coronation, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"I believe you. Now, you have to go. I can't go with you because I'd just be in the way."

"Ok. Goodbye, James."

"Goodbye, Kendall."

James watched as Kendall scurried through the back door of the stables. He wanted so badly to go in after him and drag him back to the castle. But that would make Kendall unhappy, so he couldn't bring himself to do it.

All he could do was hope that this wasn't the last time he saw him.


	11. Coronation

**Chapter 11 - Coronation (Posted 4 April 2011)**

**A/N: You guys really are the best! Keep those lovely reviews coming :P**

:James's POV:

My eighteenth birthday. The day I officially inherit the throne. Most kingdoms wait until the current King dies or becomes unfit to rule before passing the crown to the heir, including ours. But my father was so proud of me, that he decided to retire on my eighteenth birthday and give me his throne as my gift.

I was thrilled. I knew I'd come a long way and I'd earned this. And I knew this should have been one of the happiest days of my life, but I just wasn't feeling as happy as everyone else seemed to be.

Don't get me wrong, I was overjoyed that this was happening. There was a huge party with lots of food and music. Imported wines and lavish gifts were being placed in front of me all day long. Only one thing was missing.

There hasn't been a day when I didn't think of Kendall. I never did see him after that night at the stable. I kept my eyes and ears open for any sign of his return, but he never came back.

But today was the day. He promised he'd be here. And even if I didn't get to see him, just thinking about his presence was making me nervous.

Was that odd? Was it stupid to hang onto a childhood friendship like I did? I often feared I would grow up and lose the memories of the time we spent together. Or worse, that I would remember and he would forget.

But even if he did forget, he wouldn't overlook this. The news was all over the kingdom. Peddlers and messengers were sent out months ago to spread word of my coronation. So even if he forgot, he would have been reminded. And even if he didn't value our friendship as much as I still did, I just had this overwhelming desire to believe that he would be here no matter what.

I knew there was a good chance that I wouldn't see him. Whether he never made it to me or he didn't want to be seen by me, I'd accepted long ago that I may never see him again. But there was still the possibility that I caught a glimpse or that he tried to approach me.

People were already arriving for the ceremony even though it wouldn't be starting for a few hours. I greeted some of the early birds. Of course I kissed the hands of all the ladies. One poor girl even fainted. I wasn't sure if it was from heat of from my dazzling smile, but she recovered.

There were many beautiful people there. I was so honored that practically all my subjects had showed up. It was magnificent.

When the ceremony started, the whole castle was quiet. I was surprised, you would think at least a few people would be talking in a crowd this large, but I didn't hear a peep.

My back was turned to the audience as I listened to my father recite his decree as he passed his domain to me. He cried. And so did my mother.

When the crown was placed on my head, I turned and bowed to my people, who then erupted into boisterous cheers.

And there he was.

In the front row. He had a bandanna on his head and his hair was hanging in front of his face, but there was no mistaking him. The way he stood there with his arms crossed and a smirk I could see even through his dangling locks, it had to be Kendall.

He looked amazing. There was a bandage on his left wrist, secured neatly to hide what must have been my Royal Mark. He was wearing what appeared to be a brown sparring robe tied with a purple belt sash. He must be a respected worker to be able to afford anything with purple dye. Hanging from the sash was a thin scabbard. So he'd become a swordsman. And quite an honored one judging by the elaborate hilt that he was so obviously pretending not to show off. But good for him, at least he'd succeeded in something. My main concern had been whether he'd lived. So I couldn't hide my smile at knowing he was alive and doing rather well from the looks of things.

And dangling at his hip was an old, raggedy satchel. _Could that really be the one I have him all those years ago?_

That's when I noticed it. He was staring right at me. I'd been so focused on the rest of him, I completely missed his eyes. I didn't understand how they were able to shine so brightly from behind his hair, but they were beautiful. And they were staring right back into my eyes. He knew. He knew I saw him. Had that been his intention?

As the ceremony came to a close, the guests filed out to continue in the festivities for the rest of the night. But he stood there, watching as I made my way through the few guests who approached me.

I looked over the shoulders of everyone I conversed with, and his eyes never left mine.

When I was talking to one of my prospective brides, I swear he winked at me. If there was any doubt in my mind about who he was, it was erased with that one small action. I smiled the biggest smile I think I ever had, and I think this woman interpreted it incorrectly because she leaned forward and squished her breasts together. I didn't even know her name, and I was barely paying any attention to her as it was so her shameful attempt at gaining my affection was ultimately in vain.

I couldn't take my eyes off the smirking man I knew to be my long-lost friend. When this sorry excuse for a princess finally realized I'd checked out of the conversation, I knew it was my chance to speak with him.

I turned to face her and bow as she curtseyed, and watched as she walked away. I wasted no time in spinning myself back around in Kendall's direction.

But by the time I turned, he was gone.

I searched for him nonstop for the remainder of the evening. And I was severely disheartened when I could not find him. But he'd been there, and I'd seen him. He'd kept his promise, and I was perfectly happy with that.

Plus, seeing him gave me hope. If he hadn't wanted me to see him, he would have been able to hide himself. But drawing attention to himself meant that he'd wanted to be seen. And even though he disappeared, I knew he wouldn't do that unless he intended on us seeing each other again. So I committed his appearance to memory, even though I was sure I'd recognize him no matter how much time passes between now and when we would meet next.


	12. Check Mate

**Chapter 12 - Check Mate (Posted 6 April 2011)**

**A/N: I really can't express how grateful I am for you wonderful people. I never thought this story would become very popular at all, so it really makes me happy that you are all liking this ;D**

"You're Majesty," a maid said happily, "a package has arrived for you. The guards have finished inspecting it. Would you like to see it before it's stored?"

James sighed. After being King for five years, he thought the people would grow tired of sending him gifts. But he was a surprisingly popular monarch, so he couldn't really complain. "What is it this time? More homemade bath salts? Another bronze statue?"

"Well, sir, it's actually quite unique. I've seen swords before, but never one as intricately forged as this one..."

"A sword?" James's interest was piqued.

"Yes, Your Majesty, a very fine one. According to the guards, it's of extremely high quality. Even I must admit it is beautiful, almost like a work of art."

"Have the inspectors bring it to me. Quickly."

"Yes, sir." the maid smiled politely and hurried away.

About a minute later, two members of James's personal guard appeared carrying a long package wrapped in a thick, floppy red fabric.

"Sire, this package arrived this morning. We have thoroughly looked over and believe it to be a gift from a prestigious swordsmith."

"Who sent it?" James asked, stepping toward them.

"We don't know, sir. There was no letter attached. But your name has been carved into the side of the blade. Whoever sent it must be very fond of you."

"Do you know where it was sent from?" James hastily unwrapped the fabric and awed at the weapon inside. The sheath was black with gold at the tip and around the rim. Sticking out from it was a hilt he'd recognize anywhere. It was exactly like the one he'd seen Kendall brandishing at his coronation.

"We're not sure, exactly. We were unable to identify its origin. All we could deduce is that it came from one of the eastern villages."

"The Orphan Village is in the east..." James said absently.

"Excuse me?" one of the guards asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing. I will take the sword. Thank you."

"It is our pleasure, Your Majesty." the guards bowed and walked away, leaving James holding his new sword.

Dropping the fabric, James looked at the sword more closely. He grabbed the handle and pulled the sword from the sheath. It was so sturdy, it barely even clinked as he swung it around. It fit perfectly in his hand and had such a natural feel. James was enamored by the sword. He looked at the blade, and sure enough, there was his name in tiny, precise letters. And it was so sharp and shiny, he doubted it would ever lose it's stunning luster.

"It must be from Kendall." he muttered to himself. He immediately detached his old sword from his belt sash and hooked this new acquisition in its place. It hung nicely by his side, the hilt gleaming brightly from any angle. "How could he afford this?"

"I always knew my boy would make it out there." a voice came from behind him.

"Mrs. Knight." James greeted her.

"Oh, Your Majesty, there's no need to be so formal with me. I may be an old woman, but you're the King."

"And you're the mother of my best friends. Respect goes both ways, so until you agree to simply call me James, I will call you Mrs. Knight."

"You are such a sweet young man." Mrs. Knight smiled. "Katie has been asking about you. You haven't visited her in a few weeks."

James laughed. "Are you sure it's healthy for her to be this obsessed with me?"

"What can I say? You've been like a part of our family since... since Kendall ran away. She was so young when it happened, but you help fill that hole that was created. She looks up to you. Plus, you've saved her life on more than one occasion."

"Hey, it was just luck that I happened to be walking under that window when she fell out of it. And that horse wouldn't have thrown her off if I hadn't gotten in the way in the first place."

"Still, although no one could ever replace my son, we all adore you. Having you there really eased the pain."

"You all helped me as well. It was so... painful... when he left."

"So," Mrs. Knight touched the hilt of the sword, "my baby's successful enough to send you such an exorbitant gift. I'm so proud. Though I suppose he's not a baby anymore, he'd be about 23 years old by now."

"Mrs. Knight... I have a rather personal question for you..."

"Oh, dear, nothing is personal once you reach my age."

"You're not that old."

"As I said, such a sweet young man. Go ahead, ask your question."

"Who is Kendall's father?"

"I always wondered when one of you boys would ask me that."

"You mean... no one's ever asked you?" James stared.

"No. Some of the other servants know, but none of my children ever asked. I think they were worried it would upset me."

"Does it upset you?"

"Yes, but not for the reasons you would think." Mrs. Knight reminisced. "I was so young. My parents had arranged for my marriage before I was even born, so I grew up knowing I was engaged to this boy a few huts away from ours. He was nice enough, cute and always polite, but there was this other boy... many other villagers saw him as a bit of a miscreant. But he was a lovely boy. My heart belonged to him. And I told my fiance this, and he confided in me that he was also in love with someone else. So we agreed to find a way out of the engagement."

"Were your parents angry?"

"I don't even think they realized what was happening at first. You see... in my village... a prearranged marriage is voided if the man impregnates another woman... or the woman becomes pregnant by another man."

"So..."

"Yes, Kendall was my escape plan. I got pregnant with him so I would be allowed to marry Ben."

"Did you marry him?"

"We were about to marry... when he was drafted into the Combat Force. He was a strapping lad, but his hot head brought him to an early death."

"That's so horrible..."

"It is. But I don't regret it. I got out of an unwanted marriage, I got to spend time with my first love, and I had my precious son. The only thing I feel bad about is putting Kendall through all of this. Being raised without a father... it's scandalous. He was always treated badly, but thankfully his unusual charm got him out of a lot of bad situations. And I think having Logan and Carlos to protect him really helped... but there was still that stigma on him... to people that knew."

"I find it hard to believe that anyone disliked Kendall."

"I would too if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"I really miss him."

"I know you do. We all do. It hasn't gotten any easier."

James frowned. "I never expected it to."

"James... I know you've grown up... and I know you're a kindhearted and caring person. You love everyone. But you... you love Kendall the most, right?"

"Um..."

"It's okay, you know. I can see that he really meant something to you. And... I know that wherever he is... he obviously misses you."

"Do you think he'll ever come back?"

"I can't be sure. He was my son, but I don't think I ever fully understood him. He seemed to always just have this need to do whatever he wanted, and there was no pattern to it other than he always went all out. I just considered myself lucky that his strong will didn't corrupt him."

"I have a feeling he's going to come back soon."

"For your sake, I hope he does."

"What about you? And the rest of your family?"

"We miss him terribly. And I'm sure he thinks of us. But if he comes back for anyone, it would be you."

"I..." James stuttered. "I'm sorry..."

"Oh, no need to be sorry. It's obvious, with how quickly you two became so close... well..."

"I'm... not sure I know where you're going with this..."

"You'll figure it out. You were the one who helped him escape, after all."

James's jaw dropped. _How does she know that?_ "You know?"

"I'm his mom. I know everything."

"But... all these years... you never..."

"I didn't want you to think I blamed my sadness on you. If anything, I'm grateful for what you did. Kendall wouldn't have been happy as a servant. And you'd be surprised, but most of us are very proud to be able to serve you, James. But Kendall... he wanted to make himself into his own man. And if you hadn't gotten him out of the castle... I just wanted to thank you for putting some meaning into my son's life."

"It was my pleasure." James assured her. "He put meaning into mine as well. And for that reason, I just feel like I know he'll return."

X

Since seeing Kendall at his coronation, James's interest in swords and the art of sword fighting grew tremendously. He would often arrange for simple battles to be held in his court between members of the guard. It was strictly for fun, no one was to be badly injured or killed, but he liked to pay close attention to each individual's technique.

As the King, James was of course trained in combat. But he was taught to use brutal force to bring down the enemy. Sword fighting was about so much more than that. It was about honor and sportsmanship. He could see why Kendall would take up an interest in it.

He even had an ongoing invitation for passing swordsmen to challenge a member of James's personal guard to a duel at any time of the day. It was a blast to watch the strangers. He knew all the moves of his soldiers, so watching outsiders duel was a nice change.

But on today of all days, about two weeks since he received Kendall's gift, two traveling swordsmen showed up at the castle requesting a duel.

James was astounded. _Two_ swordsmen! Two fighters he's never seen before. What a thrill!

He permitted the duel right away, of course. He was sitting on his throne, eagerly awaiting for the two men to make their way into the court.

They both came out wearing similar outfits. Both of them had light armor lining their chests and shoulders, and they both wore metal cuffs on their wrists and ankles. They were barefoot. They both had short sparring robes on with black tights underneath, and a banal scabbard hanging from their sashes.

The only difference between them was the color of their robes and the masks they wore to cover their faces. One wore a red robe while the other wore green. The one in green had a mask that covered only the bottom half of his face, so his bright red hair and black eyes were clearly visible. The one in the red, however, wore a thin mask over his face that covered everything but his mouth. It must have been made from extremely diligently woven fabric for the wearer to be able to see through it, for even his eyes were covered. His dirty, black hair stuck out over the top of the mask just a little bit.

He could tell the one in the green robe was a teenager, his shaky yet confident stance gave it away. He appeared to either still be in training or freshly graduated from it. But the other, the one in the red robe was so sure of himself, he must have been a serious warrior.

The duel started and the two fighters pulled their swords out. They began thrusting at each other and blocking the other's attacks. The red one was clearly stronger, but the green one was faring surprisingly well.

The ultimate victor was the red-robed one. He knocked the younger boy's sword away with one giant swoop and pinned him on the ground.

The green-robed fighter was not happy. He jumped up, refusing the hand his opponent offered, and retrieved his sword. He then did something totally unexpected.

He lunged right at James. Luckily his guards were standing around him, so they were able to hold him back.

Unfortunately, they were so distracted by the one in green, none of them noticed the one in red sneak up on James. He held his sword up, pointing it right at his jaw. James glared at him. If he wanted to kill him, why didn't he just do it already? And why weren't his guards helping? _Oh, they're still fighting the loser of the duel_.

Then the red-robed warrior smirked. He reached forward with his free hand and pulled James's sword from its sheath. He pointed both swords at James.

Finally, the guards realized what was happening and some of them rushed to help James.

"Wait!" He held his hand up, signaling his guards not to attack.

The warrior's smirk grew wider as he tossed James's sword in the air. It twirled a few times and then the masked stranger caught it by the blade and held it out to James. James reached forward to grab it.

"Sir!" one of the guards called out. "This fighter is extremely dangerous! We must protect you!"

"No! I said wait!" James yelled again and grabbed his sword back. Only an experienced swordsman would be able to catch such a sharp sword by the blade and remain unscathed. He looked at his own sword and then peered at the one the warrior held. They matched. "There is only one person in this world who would threaten me and then wait for my reaction."

"But sir!" another guard yelled.

"I can handle this." he told his faithful soldiers. James looked at the person in front of him. Though his muscles were larger and his hair appeared to be a different color, he recognized him. He knew what the appropriate response was. He pointed his sword back at the offender and glared at him. "I wondered when you'd show up."

"You said I never would." the fighter answered, lowering his sword.

"I knew you would want to prove me wrong." James sheathed his sword and watched, waiting for the stranger to remove his mask.

"How is it you can understand me so easily?"

"Because I know you, Kendall. It may have been fifteen years since we last spoke, but time hasn't tainted my memory of you."

Kendall's smirk turned into a bright smile as he pulled the mask off, revealing his glowing green eyes. "How long have you known it was me?"

"Since you grabbed my sword. You have the same one."

Kendall nodded. "I'm happy to see you accepted my gift."

"Guards," James addressed the men surrounding him. "you are dismissed for the evening."

"But, Your Highness... this man is..."

"He is not a dangerous man. Not to me. I can assure you I will be safe with him. Now please, report to your standard posts."

"Yes, sir!" a chorus of macho voices rang out and the troops dispersed.

"Are you sure you want to be alone with me?" Kendall asked. "I am quite dangerous."

"I'm not afraid. Even if you were a hired assassin, you wouldn't hurt me." James said confidently.

Kendall continued to smile, showing that he agreed with James's statement, but he had to ask. "How can you be so sure?"

"How quickly you forget. I know you."

"A lot can happen in fifteen years."

"You've changed so much." James eyed Kendall up and down. "But you're still the Kendall I treasured back then."

"True. My appearance is much different, but my personality is still the same." Kendall relented.

"Are you going to stay?"

"Do you want me to?"

"What a stupid question..."

Kendall laughed, recalling a similar conversation from long ago. "Just answer it."

"Yes, I do."

"Then of course I'll stay." Kendall walked forward. "On one condition."

"And that is?"

"Hug me?" Kendall stretched his arms out and looked deep into James's eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd get around to asking that." James stepped forward until he was touching Kendall. They closed their arms around each other and fought off the voices in their head that told them it wasn't really happening.

"It's so good to see you again." Kendall said, not loosening his grip. "I'm sorry I waited this long, but I couldn't decide if you would want me to return or not."

"Why would I not want you to return?"

"Because we both know what happens when I step foot in your castle."

"I assume you're talking about the Mark?"

"You guessed it." Kendall said with a dark chuckle. "You put your Mark on me, James. And now you have to take it off."


	13. Cut It Off

**Chapter 13 - Cut It Off (Posted 7 April 2011)**

**A/N: I assume you all know how much I love you? I really can't tell you how amazed I am that you guys just keep reviewing and telling me you like my story :D I'm really trying my best. However, apparently I haven't done very well with telling you their ages. Please read the author's note at the bottom of this chapter for a better explanation :)**

"That Mark is permanent." James said. "The only way you can get it off is to cut it off."

"I know that. That's partly why I sent you the sword."

"I was afraid of that. I'd hoped it was just to tell me you were on your way. But I knew there had to be some hidden meaning behind something this expensive."

Kendall smiled wickedly. "The gift was to announce my arrival. It is a symbol of my feelings for you, to show you that I still think of you as my best friend. It is just an added bonus that it can be used for taking your Mark off of me. And... if you're worried about how much I spent on it, don't be. It didn't cost me very much."

"Please tell me you didn't steal it..." James said, going pale.

Kendall just laughed. "Of course I didn't steal it. Though I imagine I could be a great thief... Anyway, swords don't cost me anything except the cost of the materials. I'm known in the Orphan Village as a brilliant swordsman, but by trade I am a swordsmith."

"You mean... you _made_ this?"

"Yes."

"With your bare hands?"

"Well, there are a few tools involved, but yes, I made it myself."

"For me?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Kendall asked jokingly, but he was sort of curious.

"Kendall... I couldn't believe anyone in my kingdom made this sword, I could barely believe it was made by human hands."

"It's just a sword, James."

"No, it isn't. It's beautiful. It's one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen in my life."

Kendall blushed a little. "Well... um... thank you..."

"But... if you're so well-known in your village... how is it I haven't heard of your work? How were you able to stay hidden from my sight?"

"I work under an alias. The people in my village know me as Pienn Régis."

James's jaw dropped. "_You're_ Pienn Régis?"

"That's another reason I was afraid to come back." Kendall looked kind of sad.

"Oh my goodness. The legendary..." James swung his arms around as if trying to illustrate Kendall's success.

"I'm not legendary." Kendall rolled his eyes.

"Right. You're famous! You are one of the best swordsmiths in my entire kingdom. And you're the only one to ever refuse to make swords for my army."

"Believe me, I was honored that you chose me to make your swords, but you have to understand. I couldn't have you coming to my shoppe. If you would have seen me before I was ready to come back..."

"Your cover would have been blown." James nodded. "I wager the Mark caused you some trouble?"

"No... I mean, no one ever saw it. The only trouble was finding excuses to keep my wrist covered."

"I'm sorry. When I put the Mark on you, I didn't know what it meant. I mean, I knew it would link you to me, but I didn't know..."

"I know you didn't." Kendall smiled lightly. "I didn't find out until about five years ago, actually. I'd always just hidden it because I didn't want you to find me. I had no idea that it could have gotten me into trouble."

"How did you find out?" James asked curiously.

"I heard some women talking about it. I wasn't of a noble family so of course I never even heard of the custom of the Royal Mark. But when you explained it to me, I thought it was just a way of identifying those who were close to you. But when I came to your coronation, I was listening in on this conversation..."

"So that was you." James interrupted.

"Indeed." Kendall chuckled.

"You were staring at me."

"Oh, you noticed that?" Kendal seemed a little embarrassed. "Sorry if I frightened you or made you uncomfortable. You just... you looked so handsome."

James reached out and grabbed Kendall's hand. He looked at it for a minute and then looked back up at Kendall, who appeared flustered. "So did you."

"I did dress my best that day. I had to catch your attention somehow." Kendall managed to say. "Um... anyway, there was this group of women. They must have been noblewomen because they were talking about marrying princes and dukes and so on. And of course they mentioned you and I just happened to catch something about a Mark. Needless to say I listened more closely and overheard one of them say their dream was to be Marked. And then they sighed and swooned and that's when I figured it out."

"My father told me a few years after you left. I was growing up and it was time for me to start looking for a bride." James sighed. "And he told me the tradition was to claim the person I wanted by embedding my Mark on their skin. That was the moment I accepted the possibility of never seeing you again."

"You have to cut the Mark off, James." Kendall said sadly.

"May I see it?"

"You're the King. You can do anything you want."

"I seem to recall someone trying to teach me the exact opposite once."

Kendall laughed again. "You can look. It's your Mark, after all. Just unscrew that hinge on my cuff."

James nodded and unscrewed the tiny piece of metal from the clasps of Kendall's metal cuff. The accessory dropped to the floor and there was the Mark. He'd expected it to be faded, but it appeared to be as bright as when it had been applied. "It's really there."

"Of course it's there. You put it there. And now, to avoid an international crisis, you must cut it off."

"This is ridiculous."

"It doesn't matter. Tradition says that you've been engaged to me since you burned this ink into my arm. And even if it wasn't meant to bind us together like that, it does, and that means we have to go through the customary ceremony to undo it. You have to use your sword to cut the Mark out of my skin."

"I can't do that. That will hurt much worse than the burn."

"It doesn't matter. If your fiancée would find out about this, it could cause a war."

"Fiancée?"

"Yes, the woman you intend to marry."

"I haven't chosen a bride yet."

"You haven't? But... I heard word of your engagement to a princess..."

"Hah." James laughed boisterously. "Kendall, every princess in the world thinks she is engaged to me. None of them believe it when I reject them."

"You've rejected _all_ of them?"

"That's right."

"Even Princess Camille?"

"Yes! She was so loud! And so dramatic. One of my maids dropped a bundle of wash on the floor and she started this monologue about how sad it was to see clean laundry get dirty like that... it was very odd."

"I've heard she's quite a character, but her beauty is supposed to be unmatched."

"Beauty isn't all I'm looking for." James said sternly. "Um... would you like to go someplace we can sit down and talk?"

"Sure."

James beamed and grabbed Kendall's hand again, getting the sensation of déjà vu as he led Kendall along the same path they used to travel from the court to his bedroom. "Here. It's different now, but I still have this..." he went to a wardrobe and pulled out a worn out cloth.

"Is that..."

"The blanket you slept on."

"Why..."

"Because when it came time to replace everything... I couldn't bring myself to throw this out. Come to think of it, that satchel at your hip looks like it's seen better days."

Kendall reached down and untied the small bag and held it up. "You know, I even forgot I had this. It just... it became a habit to tie it onto my belt, I just sort of do it without even realizing. Do you know what's inside it?"

"I would imagine you carry your money in it."

Kendall shook his head. "It's your money."

"My... you never spent it?"

"Oh, I spent some of it, but most of it is still here."

"Why?"

"Because... I wanted to hold onto anything that reminded me of you."

James blushed as he sat on his bed. "Come here."

Kendall walked over and sat a few inches away from him, but they faced each other. "This is weird."

"It is. It's nice, though, to finally have you here like this..." James smiled sheepishly. "But... why do you look so different? I mean... how did you change your hair color?"

"Hah. It's not easy, let me tell you. I took some grease and mixed it with dirt and ash. I rub it through my hair a few times and wait until it dries a little bit. It washes right out and my hair goes back to normal."

"Good. I like your light hair."

"So... tell me why you're not engaged. There has to be a woman out there somewhere who suits you."

"I don't know. If there is, I haven't met her yet."

"Maybe it's me then."

James gasped. "What?"

"Maybe I'm keeping you from finding your true love by wearing your Mark." Kendall said, not noticing James's shock. "Like a curse or something."

"Oh..."

"So you should cut it off as soon as possible."

"I won't cut it off."

"You have to!"

"No, I don't. Kendall, I'm not going to let you leave again. If I cut that Mark off, there will be nothing tying you to me anymore. Now, I let you go once, I can't let you go again."

"But..."

"I _will not_ remove that Mark, Kendall. I've waited fifteen years for you to come back to me."

"You could have come looking for me. You knew where I was going. You could have come and brought me back."

"I never would have forced you to come back. But now that you're here, I feel no guilt in forcing you to stay."

"James, there's no need to force me. I'll stay here as long as you like, with or without the Mark."

"You don't get it, do you?" James scooted closer to Kendall and put his hands on his shoulders. "I want you to keep that Mark, Kendall."

"Keep it?"

"Yes. I knew, as soon as I found out what it meant... I knew that you might not come back because of what people would say. But in that moment... I decided that if you did come back, I'd make you mine."

"No... you can't possibly be suggesting..." Kendall leaned away.

"I am. I want you to marry me."

**A/N: Ok, so I guess there's still some confusion over their ages. I wanted to clarify but I didn't want to put it at the top and make this huge note before the story. So if you'd like to have a better explanation of their aging, please read this:**

***The story started when they were around 8.**

***They were about 8 or maybe even 9 when Kendall ran away.**

***James was 18 at his coronation (so 10 years passed between Kendall's disappearance and then), so Kendall's age would have been about the same, give or take a few weeks.**

***They're now around 23 as about 5 years have gone by since James officially became the King.**

**Eh, I'm not sure if that helped or if it just made it more confusing. But I know a few people have said about them being able to speak and read so well at such a young age, so I figured I'd tell you about how old they really were. I don't think that's too young, do you? I'm not really sure, so if you think I need to adjust the ages let me know; I'd really appreciate the input :D**

**Also, a few of you have mentioned being confused, but didn't say what you were confused by. Please let me know about anything that confuses you and I will do my best to fix it :)**


	14. Can't

**Chapter 14 - Can't (Posted 8 April 2011)**

"Marry?" Kendall stared blankly at James.

"Yes." James pulled Kendall closer and held onto him. "Kendall... you're my best friend. And I missed you so much, I'd do anything to keep you here with me. After you left... I imagined where you were and what you were doing. I wondered what you looked like. And then I saw you at my coronation, and I... I swear it was the happiest day of my life when I saw you standing there."

"But... you can't really want to marry me."

"I can, and I do. Kendall, I've been interviewing potential brides for years and none of them have ever held my attention for more than a minute or two. But... I think about you every day."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I've thought about you every single day since you left. And then once I'd seen you as an adult... well... the idea of marrying you really grew on me. I _love_ you. And there was a time when you loved me too."

"James... when I said that, I meant it as your friend."

"I know, I meant it that way back then as well." James chuckled. "But things are different now. My love grew a lot and I... I love you so much, I want to marry you. I want you to be my consort because I'm in love with you and you can't tell me that you're not in love with me. I know you love me, I can see it in your eyes. You love me."

"I... I do... love you."

"See? Was that so hard?"

"Not as hard as telling you you can't marry me."

"Why not?" James's face fell. "This is what marriage is. Two people who love each other promising to spend their lives together."

"You're the King. You can't marry someone like me."

James pursed his lips as he brought one hand up to lightly caress Kendall's face. "Kendall, if this is about you being an escaped servant or because you don't have a father, I won't hear it. You know none of those things matter to me."

"They don't?"

"Of course not. You're the one person who managed to get my attention when all I could think about was myself. I Marked you and I intend on claiming what's mine."

Kendall finally put on that smirk James was waiting for. "Yours, eh?"

"That's right. Mine." James said, grinning.

"And what if I want _you_ to be _mine_?"

"That depends. Do you?"

"I don't know..." Kendall looked away.

"Don't say things if you don't mean them." James appeared to be a little hurt.

"Sorry."

"I'll forgive you if you let me kiss you."

"No."

"Just to show you what it could be like for us..."

"No!"

"Why not?"

"You don't want me, James."

"What are you talking about? Of course I want you."

"No, you _don't_. And even if you did, you're the King. You can't marry me."

"Actually, that's exactly why I can."

"We're both men."

"That doesn't matter. There are no laws preventing marriage between two people of the same sex. I've heard of it happening a few times, and when issues arise about legality, I always allow it. My love for you wouldn't be any different if you were a woman."

"I'm not talking about the law." Kendall shook James off of him and stood, turning away. "You're the _King_! You need to be able to produce an heir."

"Oh..."

"Do you understand now?"

"I never... I never even gave that a thought. I will need an heir." James felt himself wanting to cry.

"See? You need to cut this Mark off of me and find a suitable woman..."

"But I don't want any woman! I don't even want any man, Kendall! Just you. I thought... I thought you'd want this and we could be happy... But I never even considered having children." James hung his head.

Kendall heard the sadness in James's voice and turned back to face him. He took a deep breath before speaking in a low voice. "I can't say I haven't thought about it."

James's head snapped up. "What?" he squeaked.

Kendall kneeled in front of him. "I've thought about what it would be like if I accepted your proposal."

"You have?"

"Yes. However, I knew it was impossible, so I didn't dwell on it."

"This... ruins everything. I can't just marry some girl for the sake of having an heir. I don't want to share my life with a stranger."

"She wouldn't be a stranger for long."

"Is this punishment for something?" James whispered.

"Don't say that..." Kendall lifted his hand and rested it on James's knee.

"I did this to myself. I was always selfish and then you came in and showed me how to make things better. It was fate that brought me to you and it is fate that's taking you away from me."

"I don't care much for fate." Kendall sighed.

"This is no time for your jokes. I love you! I don't want to be with anyone else!" James pushed himself forward onto the floor and into Kendall's arms. "Please don't make me take the Mark off. Please. I can't do it."

"Alright." Kendall hugged him tightly and patted his back. "You don't have to do it. I'll do it."

"No!"

"You don't expect me to keep it covered for the rest of my life, do you?"

"This is so stupid! We were just kids."

"I know. But I guess, if it's that important to you... I'll keep it on and do my best to hide it."

"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to do that, but... but..."

"Don't worry about it. I understand how you feel."

"Kendall... if I wasn't King... would you mary me?"

"Yes." Kendall admitted tenderly.

"I thought so."

"I do love you, James. You should know that."

"I know you do. I can't tell you how happy I am to hear you say it, though. I just can't believe this is happening. When you first became my teacher, all I wanted was to be King and for you to go away. But now... I'd give all of this up to be with you."

"Please don't say that. You earned this. And you're the perfect King, everyone is happy to have you taking care of them. You can't give that up."

"It isn't fair."

"You're right. It isn't. That someone as wonderful as you has to sacrifice some of his happiness for the sake of everyone else. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's you."

"And what about you? Don't you deserve to be happy too? We both deserve to be happy, Kendall. Together."

"I know."

"Can I please kiss you?"

"But..."

"Please, Kendall? Even if we can't get married... I've waited so long for you to return... don't you want to kiss me?"

"I didn't say that." Kendall chuckled a little.

"Then why shouldn't we?"

"We can't be together like that, James. I don't want to do something like that only to stop later."

James frowned. "But wouldn't it be better for us to have this time together now? It's better than nothing."

"Hmm..."

"You shouldn't have to think about it. If you really don't want to, I won't ask anymore."

Kendall bit his lip. Then he nodded to himself and stood up, bringing James with him. James stared sadly into Kendall's eyes. Once they were standing straight, Kendall grabbed James snugly around the waist. "You love me?"

"I've only said it a hundred times since you got here."

"I love you too." Kendall grinned wildly as he pushed forward and mashed his lips against James's.

"Hnugh..." James gasped into the kiss. His eyes closed and his knees got weak. Luckily Kendall was strong enough to hold him up.

"Wow." Kendall whispered after he realized he needed to breathe. His muscular arms were still supporting James's slack body.

"Yeah. Wow." James was still unable to stand on his own. Finally. He was finally back in Kendall's arms. And he'd just kissed him. Finally.

They were silent as Kendall half-turned them around and pushed James back on the bed. James scooted all the way back and laid flat as he watched Kendall crawl on top of him. "I... um... well, I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to say now..."

James reached up and touched Kendall's pink lips. "Just say you'll stay with me tonight."

"Stay?"

"Stay. We can take a bath and wash that gunk out of your hair. And then we can come back to bed and... let things go as they will. Unless you don't want to."

"No, that sounds really nice. I want to stay with you."

James glowed. "Thanks. In the morning we can notify your family of your return. I know we should probably tell them now... but I need you right now."

"It's ok. They'll understand."

**A/N: Meh. I'm not exactly loving this chapter. But the next one should be better :)**


	15. Mother Knows Best

**Chapter 15 - Mother Knows Best (Posted 20 April 2011)**

**A/N: I'm sooooo sooooo **_**sooooooo**_** sorry it took me this long to update. I've been ignoring my other stories for this one and I wanted to give them some attention but then I kind of lost track of time. I just can't seem to find a good balance lol. But I gave a speech yesterday in front of the whole school and I came in second place so I wrote this chapter to celebrate. It doesn't matter that there were only two contestants in my section, right? lol. It switches POV a few times. I don't think it turned out as good as I hoped, but please enjoy :D**

:James's POV:

I woke to the sensation of a warm, naked body in my arms. It took me a few seconds to really wake up and realize who this person was. Kendall. It wasn't just a dream. Kendall had returned and we spent the night together.

I watched Kendall sleep. Breathing quietly, with a content smile on his lips. It felt so natural to have him there. Like I'd been incomplete all this time. I love him. He's the most beautiful person I've ever met, inside and out.

I silently thank my parents every day for sticking us together all those years ago. Though it hurt to have him gone, I wouldn't change it. I was never quite sure if he would return or not. Sometimes I'd think he definitely would because he was my friend and we loved each other at least that much. Other times I'd decide he was absolutely never coming back because he would have already.

But no matter what I was thinking, I always thought about him. And I probably would have kept thinking about him until the day I died even if he never returned. But none of that matters now. Because he's here, in my bed. In my arms. And I feel happier than any other man, be he King or peasant.

:Kendall's POV:

The first thing I see when I woke up that morning was James's magnificent eyes staring back at me. And the brightest smile I've ever seen was shining on his face.

It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. More beautiful than any sword or castle or landscape.

It's so hard to believe I'm actually here. I wavered back and forth so many times, trying to decide if I should ever come back. But somewhere along the line I just knew in my heart that I wouldn't be able to stay away forever.

Loving your King isn't something you hear about too often. It's usually young girls and old women saying they'd like to get a piece of the Prince or something. But it's not like that for me. I love James. I knew it as soon as I began training to be a swordsmith. I always kept tabs on what he was doing, anything that could somehow be linked to him, I clung to. And that was when I started formulating my plan to return.

I wasn't sure if he felt the same way, but I had a feeling he would. All the things he said to me before I ran away stuck in my head. And in my dreams I still see his crying face when he begged me not to leave. It might not have been love then, but that's where it was headed, I'm sure of it.

Especially now. He must love me. A King would never sleep with someone like me unless they were in love. Even James, however unselfish he had become, wouldn't allow a peasant into his bed.

I was happy to know that he returned my feelings. But at the same time, I was very sad. He was the King. And I'm sure that if I was a woman, he'd be able to find some loophole that would allow us to get married. But as a man, there is no way I can marry him. His aunts and uncles have produced no other children so it is up to him to bring about his own heir. And I cannot be the person to help him with that task.

:3rd Person POV:

"Good morning." James said after a moment of basking in the heat radiating off of Kendall.

"Good morning." Kendall replied, both happily and sadly.

"Kendall... I don't know what to do..."

"Neither do I. I wish I could help you.

"I wish we could get married."

"So do I." Kendall agreed with a smile. "Could you image it? You and me, married." He snuggled closer to James. "It wouldn't seem fair though, would it? I'd be married to the King, and you'd just be married to a peasant."

"You're not just a peasant, Kendall."

"That's right, I'm Pienn Régis. That name has a good reputation."

"I'm not in love with Pienn Régis, though. I'm in love with Kendall Knight, and I'd be marrying him. You make beautiful swords, but I fell in love with you're heart, your smile, and your words. I want _you_, not an alias. _You_, the escaped servant with no father. And I would hope that you love _me_ and not the King."

"Oh James, you know that's not what I meant."

"I do, that's why I said it. Suggesting that status has any affect on how I feel about you is ridiculous."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just feel so bad about all of this. I want to marry you, James. More than anything. I love you, James."

"I know. I never thought I'd hate being the King."

"You don't really, though, do you?"

"Aside from not being able to be with you, no, I love it. I get to make decisions and take care of people. It's wonderful. But I wanted to share that with you."

Kendall looked at him confusedly. "Share? You mean... you'd have me rule beside you?"

"Of course. I told you, you'd be my consort. I'd look to you for advice even before my advisor."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Do you... would you rather have me be a woman, if you could?"

"No. I love you as a man. Even if there was some magical way to turn you into a woman, I'd want to keep you as a man. That's who you are."

"But then I could give you children."

"Kendall, I would never want anything about you to change. We'll find a way to be together should you decide to stay."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to leave." Kendall chuckled.

"You weren't. But I thought about it and I just wouldn't feel right keeping you here if you'd rather leave. The guards have been instructed to let you come and go as you please. I love you too much to force you to stay."

"James..." Kendall moved a hand up to James's face. "Thanks. But I won't leave."

James's face lit up. "You won't?"

"No. I can't leave you again. I have to stay. I want to be here with you no matter what."

"That is very good news. Do you mean it?"

"I do. I promise, James, I'm staying."

"I'm so glad." James pushed himself forward just enough to kiss Kendall lightly on the lips. "I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you by my side."

"Good."

"Now... what about your family? I'd like to keep you right here, but you should go see them. They miss you."

"I miss them too."

"Then we shouldn't wait any longer. I know how it feels to miss you."

X

After getting dressed, James accompanied Kendall to the renovated servant quarters. They stopped in front of the door and James turned to face him.

"You should wait here and come in when I tell you. They'll be so happy to see you."

"Ok." Kendall agreed with a wide smile.

James knocked on the door as Kendall hid around the corner. The door was opened and James was greeted by Katie.

"Hey." Katie yelled and leapt into James's arms. "You haven't visited in a long time. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us."

Kendall almost cried at the sound of his sister's voice. She was a young woman now, and he'd missed her growing up.

"How could I forget about you guys?" James said as he returned the hug. "Is your mother here?"

"Oh, yes, she's knitting in her bedroom. I told her she doesn't need to, but she insists on making things for the baby."

"And how is the little one doing? Will he be coming any time soon?"

"I still think it's a girl, no matter what my brother says. But I've still got about a month left. It's very exciting."

"I'm sure it is." James said.

"You ought to get married soon so you can have your own children. I'm already working on my second one, you need to get moving!"

James chuckled awkwardly. "Well, marriage is... a difficult subject... for me right now."

"Too many women to choose from?" Katie winked.

"Um... not quite..."

"Oh... someone got away?"

"Something to that effect." James nodded thoughtfully. "So, may I come in? Unless Jett is home..."

"Pssh." she waved her hand in the air. "Don't worry about him. He's just worried you'll come in here and try to steal me away from him. But he knows he's my husband and I would never leave him, not even for the king." she laughed.

"He's very lucky to have you."

"Yes, well, he's not here anyway, so come right in."

Katie walked James inside.

"Hello, James." she greeted him sweetly.

"Good morning, Mrs. Knight." James bowed.

"What brings you here so early?"

"Well... um... you have a visitor."

Mrs. Knight set her knitting aside and stood. "A visitor? Who would be visiting me?"

"Should I bring him in?"

"Is it _him_?"

James just turned his head and shouted, "Ok, you can come in now."

Kendall came in and heard his mother gasp. He smiled sheepishly at her. He didn't know what came next. Was she happy? Angry? Sad? He wasn't sure he was ready to find out.

"Is that really you, Kendall?" she asked softly.

Suddenly Katie's eyes went wide as she looked at the man standing before her mother. Kendall? She knew the name. That name was the only memory she had of her long-lost brother. What was he doing here?

Kendall didn't know what to say. He saw happiness flash across his mother's face, but anger in the face of the woman who stood aside of her. He just nodded and within seconds his mother's arms were around him.

"You came back." she said happily.

"I did."

"Katie," Mrs. Knight said quickly, "go get your brothers. Right now. Hurry!"

Katie walked out slowly despite her mother's insistence.

"Oh, come in and sit down, darling. Tell me everything." Kendall's mother sat him in front of their wood stove and sat herself in a seat across from him.

"Everything?" Kendall was surprised to see his mother so excited.

"Yes, of course! I want to know about all of your adventures."

"Ok, I... where did James go?" Kendall looked around.

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe he's waiting outside for Carlos and Logan."

"How are they?"

"They're wonderful. Logan is a healer, of course. He's very good. And Carlos works in the kitchens. He has a short attention span but when it comes to food, he's very focused." She laughed.

"And... Katie?"

"Katie has grown into a fine woman. She's married, you know."

"I heard. And she's... pregnant?"

"Yes, with her second child. She's a good mother. I think she grew up a little fast, but I'm proud of her."

"I'm sorry I missed it." Kendall said sadly. He often wondered how Katie was growing up.

"Kendall!" a voice came from behind them.

Kendall turned to see a dark-skinned man barreling toward him. He stood and immediately had the wind knocked out of him as he was embraced tightly. "Carlos."

"Wow! It's really you! You're so tall!"

"Yeah..." Kendall mumbled. What are you supposed to say to your brother after not seeing him for fifteen years?

"Logan's working with a patient right now, but he's going to be so excited to see you! How long are you staying?"

"Um... pretty long. I don't plan on ever leaving again."

"That's great." Carlos finally released him. "We'll be able to catch up and be brothers again."

"Definitely." Kendall agreed happily. He was relieved that Carlos and their mother seemed to be more than happy to accept him back into their lives.

"He's probably lying." Katie said as she walked by them. "He left once. Who can say he won't leave again?"

"But... he just said..." Carlos looked confused.

"Oh, Katie, knock it off." their mother scolded her. "None of us are mad at Kendall for leaving. I don't understand why you're so upset about him being here."

"Because he just left us! I was just a baby! I had to grow up hearing about everyone else's memories of him. How sweet and adorable he was, what a good brother he was. But I was the only one who didn't know him! Even my father knows more about him than I do. It's not fair." Katie ran out of the room.

"Maybe I should go..." Kendall said.

"No, Kendall, please stay a little longer." Carlos begged. "Katie will get over it. We missed you."

"I missed all of you too. I'm sorry I just left but..."

"It's ok, dear." their mother said sweetly. "We all understand and we love you and we're just glad to have you back."

"But... all the rooms are full." Carlos said. "Where are you going to live?"

Mrs. Knight shook her head and said "He's staying with James, of course."

Both boys looked at her.

"Oh, right." Carlos said with knowing eyes.

"Am I missing something?" Kendall asked, confused.

"Why do you have that cuff on your wrist, Kendall?" their mother asked simply.

"I'm a swordsman. They're part of my armor."

"Uh huh. So why are you only wearing one?"

Kendall looked down at his wrists and mentally slapped himself when he saw he'd forgotten to put the other one on that morning. He was so focused on not letting anyone see his Mark, he'd completely overlooked making it look inconspicuous. "Um... because... it's the latest fashion?" he tried weakly.

"Is it, now?" she replied gently.

"No." Kendall said.

"Did you make the cuff yourself?" Carlos said, trying to dispell the awkwardness.

"Yeah." Kendall answered.

"It's nice." Carlos observed.

"Thanks."

"Can I see it?" their mother asked.

Kendall held his arm out, even though he knew she wasn't really talking about the cuff. "It's got some silver running through it. Makes it look expensive, but it didn't cost very much to make."

"I mean the Mark, Kendall."

"I know." Kendall grabbed his wrist with his other hand and unscrewed the cuff. Then he extended his arm again, bare this time, revealing his Mark. "How did you know?"

"You silly boy, who do you think cleans the basement? I wake up one morning, you're gone, James won't talk to anyone, and his branding rod is laying aside of the fire pit? It wasn't that hard to figure out."

"Wow." Carlos gaped at the Mark. "I never believed Mom when she said James Marked you. Did it hurt?"

"Yes, it hurt a lot."

"Then why'd you do it?" Carlos wondered.

Kendall chuckled. "He wouldn't let me leave if I didn't. I..."

They were interrupted when someone crept up behind Kendall and squished him him in a big bear hug. "Kendall! I almost didn't believe Katie when she told me! What are you doing here?" Logan asked with a huge smile.

"I'm back." was al Kendall could think to say.

"For good?"

"Yes."

"That's great!" Logan said. "How have you been? I heard you make swords, I hope you're careful, those things are sharp and you..." he looked down at Kendall's wrist. "Woah. It's true. I thought that was just a rumor... James really Marked you."

Kendall rolled his eyes. "Is there anyone who doesn't know about it?" It was supposed to be a secret.

"Nope." Carlos giggled. "You know how gossip goes around here. Pretty much all the servants know about it. Of course we never really knew if it was true or not, but I guess now we do."

"I don't see what the big deal is about it." Kendall said absently. It meant a lot to him, but why did it mean so much to everyone else.

"It's the King's Mark." James said as he walked into the already crammed room. "Everyone here knows what it means, Kendall."

"Oh."

"So," Logan said casually, "now that you're back, when is the wedding?"

"What?" Kendall asked. Didn't anyone understand that James couldn't marry him?

"He Marked you." Carlos said. "That means you two are engaged, doesn't it?"

Kendall stuttered, "Well, yeah, but..."

"And you love him, right?" Logan asked bluntly. "I mean... it's obvious... with the way you two are looking at each other."

Kendall didn't know what to say. Of course he loved James. But they hadn't worked anything out yet. Was he supposed to tell them? "Yes, I love him." He felt an arm around his waist and saw James smiling brightly at him. "I love him very much."

"And I love Kendall as well..." James confirmed. "But, we aren't getting married."

"You're not?" Logan, Carlos, and Mrs. Knight asked.

"We can't." Kendall said sadly. "James needs to marry a woman so he can have a child who will inherit the throne."

Mrs. Knight coughed. "Well, technically... he wouldn't have to marry her. He would only have to..."

James started to blush. "Ican'tdothat!" he sputtered, thoroughly embarrassed. "And even if I could... I couldn't take the child away from its mother."

"You could marry her and carry out an affair." Logan said as if it wasn't scandalous.

"That wouldn't be fair to her _or_ Kendall." James said with a scowl.

Kendall turned to him. "It isn't a bad idea though, James. If we find someone who would do it just for the status and wouldn't mind keeping up appearances... I wouldn't have a problem with it if it means being with you..."

"What about adopting a child?" Carlos suggested. "There are lots of kids in the kingdom that don't have parents. You could adopt one of them. Heck, you could adopt a whole bunch of them and..."

"We can't." James said. "My heir needs to be a blood relative. Those are the rules."

"James," Mrs. Knight had an idea, "who are you?"

"What do you mean?" James asked. "I'm James..."

"I mean your role, in the kingdom. Who are you?"

"The King..." James said, confused.

"Right." Mrs. Knight nodded. "And, who makes the rules?"

"The King..." James repeated.

"Right. So, the King makes all the rules, and _you're_ the King."

"Yes..."

"Oh, James, for how bright you are I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet." Mrs. Knight sighed.

"Figured what out?"

"James, you're the King. Nobody can tell you what you can or cannot do. You can make it so any child you adopt would be allowed to inherit the throne. No one would be able to stop you. And who would want to? You're a great King, there isn't a person in this kingdom who would object to it."

"Can you really do that?" Kendall asked with new hope.

"I... I don't know... Can I?" James asked. It never really dawned on him. Those rules had been in place since the founding of their kingdom. But he was the King now. Why couldn't he change things?

"Of course you can." Mrs. Knight said. "Let's face it, you two belong together. I could see it within the first few days of being together, there was just something special between you. Nothing can stop a love like that."

"Mom." Kendall whined. He was just a little embarrassed about hearing his mother say it out loud like that.

"But really, Kendall." Logan interjected. "Don't you want that? Don't you want to marry him?"

"Yes."

"To raise kids with him?"

"I assume that would go along with marriage, so yes."

"Well, what do you say, Kendall?" James asked excitedly. "If this works... will you marry me?"

"I don't know..." Kendall was flustered. He'd given up on the possibility of marrying James a long time ago.

"Come on." James flashed his brightest smile. "We both want this. I love you. You know I'd do anything to be with you, including risking pissing off my advisor. Please? All you have to do to officially accept my proposal is kiss the identical Mark I wear on my arm."

"James, what if something goes wrong and..."

"Kendall, stop worrying for one second." James hugged him. "We've been stressing out about this since you got back, and now we've found a solution. Can't you see it? A big wedding? A few kids? Ruling together? Doesn't that sound perfect?"

"It does. It sounds so perfect, James..." Kendall said. Last night still felt like a dream to him, so this was like a super-dream. It couldn't really be happening. But it was. And Kendall just wanted it so bad. So he got down on one knee and grabbed James's wrist, delicately brushing his lips against it. "I love you too, James. So yes, of course I'll marry you."

"Wow." James said as Kendall stood and hugged him. He looked into his eyes, memorizing them for the hundredth time since last night. "We're engaged."

"Yeah." Kendall said breathily. "I can't believe this is really happening."

A polite cough startled them and brought them out of the intense moment.

They blushed and parted slightly, but kept hold of each other's hand.

"Yay!" Mrs. Knight shouted happily. "I'm so happy! Now all my babies will be married."

"All of them?" Kendall asked. "Carlos? Logan? I didn't know you were married."

"Well, we are." They said together.

"To who?"

The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. Logan put his arm around Carlos's shoulder and Carlos put his on Logan's waist. Then they looked back at Kendall and told him, "Each other."


	16. Katie

**Chapter 16 - Katie (Posted 26 April 2011)**

**A/N: For those of you who are worried about the Cargan, please don't be alarmed, I'm not going to to dwell on it for more than a few paragraphs. But for those of you who are excited about it, keep checking back on my profile in a few days and I might have a surprise for you ;) Also, this chapter is kind of a filler, because I'm really busy. I should have a good chapter updated by the weekend though!**

"You're married... to each other?" Kendall asked.

"Yes." Carlos and Logan said together.

"Well that's... unexpected."

"Not really." James said. "You should have seen them. They were all over each other."

"It's true." Mrs. Knight said. "You can image my surprise when I found out, but I wasn't surprised for long. They're a cute couple, aren't they?"

"Um... sure..." Kendall said. "It's just a little weird... my brothers married each other..."

"We're not _really_ brothers." Carlos said.

"Yeah, we were just raised by the same mother." Logan added. "No relation."

"I guess that's true." Kendall said. "Wow, so many surprises in one day..."

"Kendall," Katie said as she finally came back inside, "what's that on your arm?"

"James's Royal Mark." Kendall sighed.

"How did it get there?"

Kendall looked at everyone else, who was looking away. "I thought you said everyone knew about it?"

"We did." Logan said.

"But we forgot about Katie." Carlos added.

"Mom told us not to tell her." Logan sounded like he was apologizing.

"Why?" Kendall and Katie said at the same time. Katie glared at Kendall.

"We didn't want to upset her." Mrs. Knight said. "She was friends with James... and we know she was feeling abandoned... so we didn't want her to know about you two."

"She knows we used to be friends." James said. "But I never even knew your mother found out about the Mark, so I don't know what all they've kept from her."

"Ok, what's going on!" Katie demanded.

"Katie..." James said. "I'm going to marry Kendall."

"Marry him? Why?"

"I love him."

"Love? How could you do this to me?" Katie asked quietly.

"I'm not doing anything wrong, Katie." James said, hugging Kendall a little closer.

"James I thought you were my friend!"

"I am, you know that..."

"No, I don't. My friend wouldn't just walk in here with the brother that left me, and then tell us all he's going to marry him! I hate you, James."

X

"I'm sorry." Kendall said once he and James were back in the privacy of James's bedroom. "I've caused so much trouble..."

"Kendall," James smiled sincerely, "don't you dare blame yourself for this. Neither of us did anything wrong. Katie is just... being stubborn. Does that sound familiar?"

Kendall put on a playful smile. "Too familiar."

"We just need to give her some time. She'll come around, I know her."

"I don't. I feel so bad for leaving her... but I didn't think it would matter. She had Carlos and Logan, and her father of course. I didn't even think she'd notice I was gone."

"She didn't notice, she was just an infant when you left. But she knew because everyone talked about it. She didn't question it or investigate it or try to fight it, because that's just the way it was. Huh, that sounds awfully familiar as well..."

"She's obviously my sister."

"And she's obviously my friend."

"Is she happy? Or, rather, was she happy before I returned?"

"I guess. She's very outgoing and sweet. Everyone loves her."

"And... her husband? I assume he's a good guy."

"He's... alright. Don't get me wrong, he takes very good care of your entire family and he loves your sister to death, but sometimes he can be a little... obsessive... about his appearance."

"As long as he's good to them."

"He's very good to them."

"Not that I have any right to say anything if he isn't."

"She's just upset because she never knew you."

"And she's angry because I just waltzed back into her life as if I was never even gone. I get that." Kendall sighed.

"We can talk to her tomorrow."

"Why not today? It's only noon..."

"Because today, my love, we must announce to our kingdom that we are engaged to be married."


	17. Are You Really Kendall?

**Chapter 17 - Are You Really Kendall? (Posted 1 Jun 2011) *Final Chapter***

**A/N: Has it really been over a month since I updated this? I feel like I should have just buckled down and written it for you since it's the last chapter. Sorry it's taken me so long. There was a lot of crazy things going down here lol. I even lost my internet a few weeks ago! And satellite tv too! And I wasn't supposed to get it back until like next week or something, so I haven't even been writing. But then I found out I was getting it today so I stayed up all night writing new chapters for all my stories! Yaaay! And I graduated high school on May 26th so I'm going to try to write like a fiend this summer :D and then I start college on August 29th but I'm going to try to keep writing fanfiction at least a little bit while I'm there. Anyway, sorry about the über long author's note. Now onto the final chapter of ****The Whipping Boy****!**

Two weeks after James made the announcement that he was engaged, an immense crowd of citizens gathered in the castle yard to be introduced to the lucky princess.

"What if they don't like me?" Kendall asked.

"That's a stupid question." James answered as he dressed Kendall in royal robes. "They're going to love you. And if they don't right away, they will eventually because they'll see how much _I_ love you."

"They're going to be really surprised to find out I'm a man."

"You're a man? !" James pretended to be shocked.

Kendall rolled his eyes. "I mean it! They all think you're engaged to some princess. But here I am, just an average guy..."

"You're not average. You're sweet, talented, and incredibly handsome."

"We need to pick a date for the wedding, you know."

"I know. But I don't want to pick just any date. I want to talk to you about it first."

"James," Kendall looked pointedly at him, "any date is fine with me. As long as it's not too far in the future..."

"Ah, anxious, are we?" James raised his eyebrows.

"Extremely. I can't wait to be your husband."

Suddenly there was a quick, light knock at the door.

"Who's there?" James called out.

"Me." Katie said softly.

James looked to Kendall. They'd tried speaking with her multiple times, but she always avoided them or yelled at them.

"Come in." James told her.

Katie walked in slowly. She looked at Kendall, as if trying to recognize a person you swear you've seen before. "Are you really my brother?"

"Well I'm you're half-brother."

"That doesn't matter, family is family. What I mean is are you really _Kendall_?

"Yes."

"Kendall Knight?" Katie asked, not really believing him.

"Technically... Knight is really _your_ father's last name... I just started using it when Mom married him..."

"Cut it out!" Katie yelled. "Just tell me the truth. Are you really who you say you are?"

"Yes."

"Liar." Katie accused him with a whisper.

"I'm not lying, I promise, I really am Kendall."

"You're not. You're a fraud. I saw you! I saw you in the Orphan Village."

Kendall's eyes went wide. "When were you in Orphan Village?"

"About three years ago. I'd overheard James talking about it. He said it was where he thought you were. So I went there to look for you. But when I asked around, no one had heard of anyone named Kendall. I came into your shoppe and I saw this." She stuck her hand into the pocket on her apron and pulled out a silver pendant shaped like a leaf. "You said it was one of a kind and I really wanted it but I didn't have enough, so you said I could just take it and pay you as much as I could whenever I could. But I never came back."

"That is from my shoppe. That was you?" Kendall asked confusedly as he inspected the small piece of metal in her hand.

"So you admit it then."

"Katie," James said, "this really is Kendall. The shoppe you went into, it was Pienne Régis's shoppe, right?"

"Yeah, so this guy is a fraud!"

"No, he's not. Kendall was using that name as an alias. He became a swordsmith and changed his name so no one would be able to find him."

"He's lying!"

"He's not!" James insisted. "Katie I'd recognize Kendall anywhere. This is him, I'd bet my life on it."

Katie looked angry. "Well so what if it is him? He left all of us, including you! How can you just let him back into your life like nothing even happened?"

"Because I understand why he left. And I love him." James answered simply.

"How can you love him? You only knew him for a few months when you were a kid. And he's only been back for a little over two weeks!"

"I know I love him because he changed me. I was a spoiled little brat until Kendall came along and showed me how awful I was. He didn't just make me better, he made me _want_ to be better. And I never told anyone this but soon I realized that it wasn't even about the throne anymore, I just wanted to show him that I could be a good person. And when I realized he'd taught me as much as he could, I pretended to still be mean and selfish just so he'd have to continue to stay with me. Back then I didn't know what was happening but once I grew up a little I started to understand that Kendall had become the most important person in the world to me and that I loved him. Your brother is an amazing person and I know why you're angry, even I found myself getting angry when I thought about him just leaving us all behind. But I know that he thought he'd never have any purpose here, and that's why he wanted to go out into the world, so he could accomplish something great. I always knew in my heart that no matter how sad or angry or scared I got without him that as soon as he came back I'd welcome him with open arms because it would probably break both of us if I turned him away."

"James..." Kendall said, stunned.

"I'm sorry." Katie said quietly. "I just... I never knew you. And once I saw you in our apartment I thought I recognized you from somewhere. When I found out you were Kendall, it reminded me of Orphan Village and that's when I figured out you were the guy who gave me this pendant. I was angry because I couldn't believe you'd returned just out of the blue and expected us to be all excited about it."

"I didn't want..." Kendall tried to defend himself but Katie interrupted him,

"I'm not finished you. I always thought of you as a thoughtless and heartless brother because you left your family behind and even though everyone said how wonderful you were I thought they were just saying that because they didn't want to hurt me. But then I remembered the pendant... you were so nice... and you saw that I never had any intention to return to pay for it, didn't you? You knew I was just taking advantage of your kindness. And that's what got to me the most. All of a sudden I couldn't keep telling myself that you were actually a cold person. All of a sudden I couldn't hate you anymore."

"Katie," Kendall said, "I never wanted to hurt you. You have to believe me. I honestly thought leaving would be better for all of you."

Katie suddenly lunged forward and threw her arms around Kendall. "I know. I understand that now. Just please don't ever leave again. I want to get to know you and try me best to be as close to you as Carlos and Logan are."

"I swear I'm never leaving again. Even if I wasn't marrying James, I couldn't bring myself to leave all of you again."

X

"I can't believe how many girls started crying. Actually _crying_!" Kendall said as they came back inside from announcing their engagement.

James just laughed heartily. "I know. They suddenly realized they never had a chance. I almost feel a little bad about it..."

"Were you at all creeped out by the few that got nosebleeds?" Kendall asked with a hint of cautiousness in his voice.

James continued to laugh as he grabbed Kendall's hand. "You are so beautiful, Kendall."

"Thanks." Kendall said sheepishly.

"So today went well. We made up with Katie. The public seemed to have accepted both you and the fact that we plan on adopting an heir. And now we're going to choose a date for the wedding."

"Have I mentioned that I love you?" Kendall asked with a small grin.

"Only about a thousand times today." James answered. "But I'll never get tired of hearing it."

**A/N: That... wasn't exactly as good as I wanted it to be -_- But it's the end! Thank you to everyone who stuck with it for this long and was patient throughout my writer's block and random other obstacles! What did you think? Should I keep writing for this fandom or should I try something new? Tell me what you think in a review :D**


	18. Sequel?

**So as most of you have noticed, The Whipping Boy has come to an end.**

**But I must say that I enjoyed writing this story probably more than any story so far. All the support and reviews from you guys (minus the few people who disliked it...) really put me in a happy place :)**

**And of course it was very fun to write. I love experimenting with AU fics, but I know they're not very popular so it really made me feel good to receive such a positive response!**

**Anyway, onto the whole reason I posted this author's note chapter...**

**I've really been getting a lot of reviews and even PMs asking me to continue the story. And I'll admit I wasn't planning on ending it so soon, but I really didn't plan on adding more when I realized it was shorter than I expected.**

**So, my question is: would anyone be interested in a sequel? At this point I have no story ideas, but I would like to write a sequel if you would want. If not, please be completely honest and tell me so; I don't want to write it if you're not going to read it or if it seems like it doesn't really allow for a plot-filled and thought-provoking sequel.**

**So please drop a review or shoot me a PM telling me what you think! And if you want a sequel, please feel free to give me any of your ideas!**

**-Hana  
**


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